Open AccessGiardia lamblia – a model organism for eukaryotic cell differentiation
Author(s) -
Svärd Staffan G,
Hagblom Per,
Palm J.E.Daniel
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2003.tb11490.x
Subject(s) - giardia lamblia , biology , giardia , genome , protozoa , model organism , dna replication , cytokinesis , vertebrate , microbiology and biotechnology , parasite hosting , cellular differentiation , genetics , evolutionary biology , dna , cell , cell division , gene , world wide web , computer science
Giardia lamblia is a binucleated, flagellated protozoan parasite that inhabits the upper small intestine of its vertebrate hosts. The entire life cycle, which can be completed in vitro, is simple with cycling between a vegetative trophozoite and a highly resistant cystic form. The parasite is one of the earliest diverging eukaryotes known and more than 95% of the genome is sequenced. This makes Giardia an excellent model system for studies of basic eukaryotic processes like cell differentiation. In this review we will discuss recent data concerning Giardia differentiation with a focus on DNA replication and cytokinesis.