A dysflagellar mutant of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis isolated from a cutaneous leishmaniasis patient

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Silvia RB Uliana²  Fátima Ribeiro-Dias¹  A Tania Bijovsky²  Yara M Traub-Cseko⁵  Juliany CF Rodrigues³  Edna AY Ishikawa⁴  André N Pitaluga⁵  Milton AP de Oliveira¹  Miriam L Dorta¹  Lucianna GN Lemes¹  Ildefonso A da Silva¹  Ledice IA Pereira¹  Alexandre S Moura²  Danilo C Miguel²  Jenicer KU Yokoyama-Yasunaka²  Rogéria C Zauli² 

[1] Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, 74605-050, Brazil;Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-900, Brasil;Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Pólo Avançado de Xerém, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, 66055-240, Brazil;Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Parasitas e Vetores, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, 21045-900, Brazil

关键词: electron microscopy.;    Leishmania;    mutant;    flagellum;   

Others  :  1233124
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-3305-5-11

 received in 2011-12-16, accepted in 2012-01-11,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Parasites of the Leishmania genus alternate between the flagellated extracellular promastigote stage and intracellular amastigotes. Here we report the characterization of a Leishmania isolate, obtained from a cutaneous leishmaniasis patient, which presents peculiar morphological features.

Methods

The parasite was cultured in vitro and characterized morphologically using optical and electron microscopy. Identification was performed based on monoclonal antibodies and internal ribosomal spacer typing. In vitro macrophage cultures, murine experimental models and sand fly infections were used to evaluate infectivity in vitro and in vivo.

Results

The isolate was identified as Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. In the atypical promastigotes grown in culture, a short flagellum surrounded or interrupted by a protuberance of disorganized material was observed. A normal axoneme was present close to the basal body but without elongation much further outside the flagellar pocket. A disorganized swelling at the precocious end of the axoneme coincided with the lack of a paraflagellar rod structure. The isolate was able to infect macrophages in vitro, induce lesions in BALB/c mice and infect Lutzomyia longipalpis.

Conclusions

Notwithstanding the lack of an extracellular flagellum, this isolate infects macrophages in vitro and produces lesions when inoculated into mice. Moreover, it is able to colonize phlebotomine sand flies. Considering the importance attributed to the flagellum in the successful infection and survival of Leishmania in the insect midgut and in the invasion of macrophages, these findings may bring new light into the infectious mechanisms of L. (V.) braziliensis.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Zauli et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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