Quorum sensing in African trypanosomes

Background: African trypanosomes cause Human and Animal African trypanosomiasis. Currently, human cases are declining but livestock disease remains responsible for substantial economic hardship in sub-Saharan Africa. The threat of disease spread from animals to humans for certain trypanosome species also remains significant.
Approach: Our research will explore how trypanosomes prepare for transmission by tsetse flies. We will investigate the molecular mechanisms of developmental competence in laboratory and field isolates and in different trypanosome species. This will build on our recent characterisation of a parasite-density based mechanism (quorum-sensing) that trypanosomes use to optimise their spread.
Expected impact: Understanding the molecular basis of trypanosome development provides opportunity to break the cycle of disease spread and to predict the emergence of parasites with life-history strategies favouring virulence or transmission. The trypanosome quorum sensing pathway also provides a tractable paradigm for diverse signal transduction events in related important pathogens causing Chagas' disease and Leishmaniasis.