This Week in Parasitism

Vincent and Dickson discuss the spread of P. knowlesi in Malaysia, and how Leishmania parasites protect the sandfly gut from bacterial infection.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Spread of P. knowlesi in Malaysia (NY Times)
• Climate change in Europe and vector transmitted disease (Infez Med)
• Colonisation resistance in the sandfly gut (Parasites & Vectors)
• Car Talk co-host dies
• Early Career Scientists Symposium
• Image credit: Anne Marie
• Letters read on TWiP 79

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Vincent and Dickson discuss how malaria parasites induce odors in their rodent hosts that attract mosquitoes.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Visceral Leishmaniasis, South Sudan (ProMedMail)
• Malaria-induced changes in host odors (PNAS)
• Image credit
• Letters read on TWiP 77

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Vincent and Dickson discuss the exchange of messenger RNAs between a parasitic plant and its hosts.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Exchange of mRNAs between parasite and plant (Science)
• White leaf rust (Wikipedia)
• Cuscuta (Wikipedia)
• Fungal haustoria (PNAS)
• Image credit
• Letters read on TWiP 77

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Vincent and Dickson discuss how infection of mice with helminths induces cytokines that reactivate a latent gamma-herpesvirus.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Helminths reactivate herpesvirus (Science)
• How helminths go viral (Science)
• Herpesvirus latency protects from bacterial infection (Nature)
• Image credit
• Letters read on TWiP 76

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Bobbi Pritt joins Vincent and Dickson to talk about directing a clinical parasitology laboratory and her weekly case reports at Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Guest: Bobbi Pritt

• Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites
• Letters read on TWiP 75

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Vincent and Dickson review a novel malaria vaccine candidate comprising a parasite protein involved in egress from red blood cells.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Egress protein a malaria vaccine candidate (Science)
• Human proteins (Wikipedia)
• Plasmodium genomics resource
• Image: P. falciparum ring forms and gametocytes in blood
• Letters read on TWiP 74

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Vincent and Dickson discuss how nibbling of human cells by Entamoeba histolytica, a process called amoebic trogocytosis, contributes to cell killing and tissue invasion.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Trogocytosis by E. histolytica (Nature)
• Trogocytosis
• Entamoeba histolytica (TWiP 17)
• Entamoeba histolytica life cycle (jpg)
• Image: E. histolytica nibbling a green cell (credit)
• Letters read on TWiP 73

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Vincent and Dickson discuss five ways that helminths manipulate host tissues to survive.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Wormholes in host defense (PLoS Path)
• Lung coin lesion (Wikipedia)
• Granuloma (Wikipedia)
• Jar that Dickson is holding (jpg)
• Letters read on TWiP 72

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Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson review the finding that urocanic acid in the skin is a chemoattractant for the parasitic nematode Strongyloides stercoralis.

Download TWiP #71 (60 MB .mp3, 84 minutes).

• Strongyloides stercoralis (TWiP #71)
• Urocanic acid is a S. stercoralis chemoattractant (PNAS)
• Chemical trails of parasites (PNAS)
• Urocanic acid (Wikipedia)
• Candiru (Wikipedia)
• Your Inner Fish (PBS)
• Letters read on TWiP 71

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Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson discuss the finding of Gnathostoma nematodes in Asian swamp eels from US live markets and wild populations.

• Guinea worm eradication at risk (Science)
• Gnathostomiasis (CDC)
• Asian swamp eel
• Gnathostoma in live swamp eels (EID)
• Interview with Rebecca Cole (YouTube)
• Letters read on TWiP 70

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