Unicellular parasites have developed sophisticated swimming mechanisms to survive in a wide range of environments. Cell motility of African trypanosomes, parasites responsible for fatal illness in humans and animals, is crucial both in the insect vector and the mammalian host. Using millisecond-scale imaging in a microfluidics platform along with a custom made optical trap, we are able to confi...

Among the wide range of methods and expression hosts available for the heterologous production of recombinant proteins, insect cells are ideal for the production of complex proteins requiring extensive posttranslational modification. This review article provides an overview of the available insect-cell expression systems and their properties, focusing on the widely-used Baculovirus Expression V...

The effect of insect vectors on avian exposure to infection by pathogens remains poorly studied. Here, we used an insect repellent treatment to reduce the number of blood-sucking flying insects in blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus nests and examined its effect on nestling health status measured as body mass, nestling phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) response and blood parasite prevalence. We found that (i)...

The culture of insect tissues in vitro offers considerable potential for studying many aspects of the pathogenic cycles of protozoan, bacterial, and viral agents which have an insect vector or reservoir . Studies directed toward this end have been limited in number since the culture of insect cells has, in itself, been a very difficult task (2, 8, 13) . Progress in this field was not too encour...

In this study, we investigated the tritrophic interactions among a persistently transmitted plant virus, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), its insect vector, the sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci, and a parasitoid, Encarsia formosa Gahan, one of the most extensively used biological control agents. As an emerging invasive pest worldwide, the two most damaging whiteflies are B. tabaci B an...

Vaccines based on virus-like particles (VLPs) have proven effective in humans and animals. In this regard, the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is one of the technologies of choice to generate such highly immunogenic vaccines. The extended use of these vaccines for human and animal populations is constrained because of high production costs, therefore a significant improvement in pro...