19. Protozoa (Leishmania) Flashcards
who is in the class kinetoplastida?
- leishmania
- trypanosoma
what unique feature do kinetoplastids have?
the unique organelle, the kinetiplast
what is a kinetoplast?
a disk shaped mass of circular DNA inside a large mitochondrion that contains many copies of the mitochondrial genome
how does kinetoplast DNA look?
it is relatively abundant and is a tighly packed mass of DNA
the kinetoplastid genome is composed of ______.
ktDNA
the two types of ktDNA occur in a _________ and are called ______ and _______.
linked mass within the mitochondrion
mini-circles; maxi-circles
what do maxi circles encode?
mitochondrial genes and they are more or less equivalent to the mtDNA
mini-circles are ________ and rapidly evolving, and their function is less clear.
heterogenous
what do mRNAs expressed from maxi-circles require?
extensive RNA editing
what is RNA editing in maxi-circles mediated by?
several multi-protein complexes but the information comes from small guide RNAs that are encoded on mini-circles
what is special and novel about kinetoplastid DNA?
that there are 2 genomes in the mitochondrion, one of which contains sequence information that corrects errors in the other
how are the errors on the maxi-circles corrected?
they need to be edited
where does editing of the maxi-circles take place?
in the mitochondrion of kinetoplastids
what does the extent of editing correlate with?
the stage in the parasitic life cycle and the corresponding metabolic changes - such as aerobic/anarobic
what is mini-circle DNA used for in practice?
parasite detection and differentiating between various isolates
what is a glycosome?
a peroxisome-like organelle in which glycolysis occurs (conversion of glucose to pyruvate)
how many membranes does a glycosome have?
1
what does the glycosome change in comparison to other eukaryotic organisms?
it sequesters a large number of glycolytic enzymes that would otherwise be located in the cytosol
the glycosome of kinetoplastids shares some enzymes with _________ and __________ of other protists, plants and animals.
peroxisomes; glyoxysomes
what are the four major morphological forms of kinetoplastids, which are associated with the different life cycle stages in various species that cause disease in humans?
- trypomastigote
- amastigote
- promastigote
- epimastigote
where is the kinetoplast located in the trypomastigote?
on the posterior
where is the flagellum in a trypomastigote?
it emerges from the posterior end of the parasite (basal body, bb) and extends the length towards the anterior where the extension of the free flagellum emerges from the anterior end
how long is the undulating membrane in a trypomastigote?
it spans the length of the parasite
what is the use of the undulating membrane trypomastigote?
it functions like a fin and increases the motility of the organism
how does the amastigote look like?
spherical in shape and no free flagellum
the _____ and the ______ are present in the amastigote
basal body; base of the flagellum
what is the kinetoplast identified as in microscopy
a dark staining body near the nucleus
is the amastigote motile?
no
what is the morphology of the promastigote?
the kinetoplast is towards the anterior and a free flagellum with no undulating membrane emerges where it will pull the organism from
what is the morphology of the epimastigote?
The kinetoplast is more centrally located, usually just anterior to nucleus, and the flagellum emerges from the middle and forms a shorter undulating membrane than in trypomastigotes
who is noticeably more motile, epimastigotes or trypomastigotes?
trypomastigotes
what are the 4 types of leishmaniasis?
- cutaneous leishmaniasis
- mucosal leishmaniasis
- visceral leishmaniasis
- nodular post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL)
how is Leishmania spp. transmitted
by the bite of certain species of sandflies
- Phlebotomus (old world)
- Lutzomia (new world)
most forms of Leishmania are only spread through ______ but some can be spread between humans
animals, as a zoonosis
how many species of Leishmania cause human infection
21/30 that can infect mammals
how are different species of Leishmania distinguished?
they are morphologically indistinguishable, they can be distinguished by isoenzyme analysis, DNA seq analysis, or monoclonal antibodies
which parasite causes visceral leishmaniasis?
L. donovani