Kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), from trypanosomatid mitochondria, is a network containing several thousand catenated minicircles that is condensed into a disk-shaped structure in vivo. kDNA synthesis involves release of individual minicircles from the network, replication of the free minicircles and reattachment of progeny at two sites on the network periphery approximately 180 degrees apart. In Crithi...

Floral landscapes comprise diverse phytochemical combinations. Individual phytochemicals in floral nectar and pollen can reduce infection in bees and directly inhibit trypanosome parasites. However, gut parasites of generalist pollinators, which consume nectar and pollen from many plant species, are exposed to phytochemical combinations. Interactions between phytochemicals could augment or decr...

BACKGROUND The presence of "anti-DNA antibodies in abnormal titres" is a well established criterion for SLE classification, but there is no agreement on the performance of this test. OBJECTIVE To study the correlation between clinical findings and five different solid and solution phase anti-DNA antibody assays. METHODS 158 consecutively collected ANA positive sera were studied in a double ...

Crithidia fasciculata is a monogenetic parasite of insects. It grows in fully defined media without requiring serum, which facilitates biochemical analysis. We have constructed a series of expression systems that allows expression of transfected genes in the kinetoplastid protozoa Crithidia and Leishmania. These cells can be readily transfected with plasmid DNA by electroporation and transforma...

According to their genera, trypanosomatids excrete urea, ammonia, or both. Species of Herpetomonas and Trypanosoma are ammonotelic. Species of Leishmania, Leptomonas, Crithidia, and Blastocrithidia can be ureotelic, ammonotelic, or both, depending on growth media composition.

The relative in vitro susceptibility of HeLa cells and three protozoan species to a number of fermentation-derived materials was determined. Of the 61 purified agents tested in tube dilution and plate diffusion tests, 35 had displayed antitumor activity in rodents. The test system found to be most sensitive to the antitumor agents was that employing HeLa cells. Among the protozoan species, the ...

1. Replicating kinetoplast DNA networks from both Crithidia fasciculata and Leishmania tarentolae have an equilibrium density in ethidium bromide— CsQ which is less than that of covalently closed non-replicating networks. After a few hours of chase, these networks assume the covalently closed posi-. tion in the gradient. 2. Pulse-labeled minicircles isolated, from sonicated networks band in the...

Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA sequences from the families Trypanosomatidae and Bodonidae (Eugelenozoa: Kinetoplastida) was conducted using a variety of methods. Unlike previous analyses using unrooted trees and/or smaller numbers of sequences, the analysis did not support monophyly of the genus Trypanosoma, which includes the major human parasites T. cruzi (cause of Chagas' disease) and T. ...