Trypanosoma brucei

Trypanosoma brucei is a single-celled parasite transmitted by tsetse flies. Its subspecies cause human African trypanosomiasis and animal African trypanosomiasis.

Variant surface glycoprotein: A family of proteins that covers the surface of bloodstream-form Trypanosoma brucei and varies among parasite populations. Repeatedly changing this coat lets the parasite escape antibodies raised against earlier variants.
Human African trypanosomiasis: A potentially fatal disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei subspecies transmitted by tsetse flies. This is the human disease caused by T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense.
Trypanosomatid: A flagellated protist in the family Trypanosomatidae, a group that includes several medically important parasites. Trypanosoma brucei belongs to this broader family of single-celled organisms.
David Bruce: A Scottish physician and microbiologist who investigated the parasite responsible for nagana and sleeping sickness. Bruce’s investigations established the connection between trypanosomes, tsetse flies, and disease.
Antigenic variation: A process in which a pathogen changes exposed antigens over time, limiting recognition by existing antibodies. Trypanosoma brucei uses antigenic variation to sustain infection despite an active antibody response.
Animal African trypanosomiasis: A livestock and wildlife disease caused by African trypanosomes, including Trypanosoma brucei brucei. T. brucei contributes to animal disease that can reduce livestock health and productivity.
Kinetoplast: A network of mitochondrial DNA found in a specialized region of the mitochondrion in kinetoplastid protists. This distinctive DNA-containing structure is a defining feature of the parasite’s cell group.
Nagana: A livestock disease in sub-Saharan Africa caused by trypanosomes transmitted by tsetse flies. Research on this animal disease helped identify T. brucei and its mode of transmission.
Trypanosome life cycle: The developmental sequence through which trypanosomes pass in vertebrate hosts and insect vectors. The parasite alternates between mammalian and tsetse-fly forms, each adapted to a different host.
Trypanosoma brucei gambiense: A subspecies of Trypanosoma brucei that causes most chronic human African trypanosomiasis cases in western and central Africa. It is one of the two human-infective subspecies of T. brucei.

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