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Kinetoplastids are a group of parasites that includes several medically-important species. These human-infective species are transmitted by insect vectors in which the parasites undergo specific developmental transformations. For each species, this includes a stage in which parasites adhere to insect tissue via a hemidesmosome-like structure. Although this structure has been described morphologically, it has never been molecularly characterized. We are using  Crithidia fasciculata , an insect parasite that produces large numbers of adherent parasites inside its mosquito host, as a model kinetoplastid to investigate both the mechanism of adherence and the signals required for differentiation to an adherent form. An advantage of  C .  fasciculata  is that adherent parasites can be generated both  in vitro , allowing a direct comparison to cultured swimming forms, as well as  in vivo  within the mosquito. Using RNAseq, we identify genes associated with adherence in  C .  fasciculata . As almost all of these genes have orthologs in other kinetoplastid species, our findings may reveal shared mechanisms of adherence, allowing investigation of a crucial step in parasite development and disease transmission. In addition, dual-RNAseq allowed us to explore the interaction between the parasites and the mosquito. Although the infection is well-tolerated, anti-microbial peptides and other components of the mosquito innate immune system are upregulated. Our findings indicate that  C .  fasciculata  is a powerful model system for probing kinetoplastid-insect interactions.

plos neglected tropical diseases

Dramatic changes in gene expression in different forms of Crithidia fasciculata reveal potential mechanisms for insect-specific adhesion in kinetoplastid parasites