Pathogenic Protists
-> African Sleeping Sickness
The Trypanosoma brucei is a pathogenic protist that causes a disease commonly known as African sleeping sickness. The key to this protist's success is its unique ability to change its surface proteins frequently and thus prevents the host from recognizing it and launching an immune response against it. In a paper published in the Parasitology Today journal, researchers Overath et. al remarked that "The extravagant potential of these parasites to change their surface coat has destroyed hopes for a vaccine based on the variant surface glycoprotein" (p. 53).
The Tsetse fly is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and serves as the vector(carrier) for the T. brucei protist. Once the human is infected with the disease, the protist may lie dormant for weeks to months before the human becomes symptomatic. The CDC provides advice to travelers to African regions at risk for this disease. Their website provides the following chart detailing the life cycle of the T. brucei and how it affects humans:
The Tsetse fly is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and serves as the vector(carrier) for the T. brucei protist. Once the human is infected with the disease, the protist may lie dormant for weeks to months before the human becomes symptomatic. The CDC provides advice to travelers to African regions at risk for this disease. Their website provides the following chart detailing the life cycle of the T. brucei and how it affects humans:
-> Malaria
Another disease commonly caused by pathogenic protist is malaria. The genus Plasmodium is a kind of apicomplexan and is the protist that causes malaria. The female Anopheles mosquito is the vector for the Plasmodium protist. This YouTube video provides a detailed description of the Plasmodium life cycle and how it travels between its vector the host.
References
CDC - African Trypanosomiasis - Biology. (n.d.). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/sleepingsickness/biology.html
Malaria Life Cycle of Plasmodium - YouTube . (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved March 11, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=859YQcqYPko
Malaria.jpg. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 6, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malaria.jpg
Overath, P., Chaudhri, M., Steverding, D., & Ziegelbauer, K. (1994). Invariant surface proteins in bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei. Parasitology
Today, 10(2), 53-58. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016947589490393X
Reece, J.B., Urry L.A., Cain, M.L., Wasserman, S.A., Minorsky, P.V., & Jackson, R.B. (2011) Campbell Biology. Boston: Benjamin Cummings.
Malaria Life Cycle of Plasmodium - YouTube . (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved March 11, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=859YQcqYPko
Malaria.jpg. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 6, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malaria.jpg
Overath, P., Chaudhri, M., Steverding, D., & Ziegelbauer, K. (1994). Invariant surface proteins in bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei. Parasitology
Today, 10(2), 53-58. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016947589490393X
Reece, J.B., Urry L.A., Cain, M.L., Wasserman, S.A., Minorsky, P.V., & Jackson, R.B. (2011) Campbell Biology. Boston: Benjamin Cummings.