Abstract
Trypanosoma vivax is the most prevalent trypanosome species in African cattle. It is thought to be transmitted by tsetse flies after cyclical development restricted to the vector mouthparts. Here, we investigated the kinetics of T. vivax development in Glossina morsitans morsitans by serial dissections over 1 week to reveal differentiation and proliferation stages. After 3 days, stable numbers of attached epimastigotes were seen proliferating by symmetric division in the cibarium and proboscis, consistent with colonization and maintenance of a parasite population for the remaining lifespan of the tsetse fly. Strikingly, some asymmetrically dividing cells were also observed in proportions compatible with a continuous production of pre- metacyclic trypomastigotes. The involvement of this asymmetric division in T. vivax metacyclogenesis is discussed and compared to other trypanosomatids.
Introduction
African trypanosomiases are a set of vector-borne diseases of humans and their livestock resulting from infections with flagellated unicellular parasites named African trypanosomes (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) that are almost exclusively transmitted by the bite of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae). At least seven trypanosome species cause Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) (review in Rotureau and Van Den Abbeele, ). Among these, Trypanosoma (Duttonella) vivax, T. (Nannomonas) congolense, and to a lesser extent T. (Trypanozoon) brucei brucei, are the major pathogens of cattle and other ruminants. AAT threatens about 50 million heads of cattle and causes about 3 million deaths annually. It has a marked impact on agriculture in sub-Saharan endemic countries, leading to annual livestock production losses of about 1.2 billion US dollars (FAO, ). AAT restricts agricultural development on the African continent despite the availability of prophylactic and curative drugs. Moreover, drug effectiveness is being seriously threatened by increasing drug resistance in animal trypanosomes (Delespaux et al., ).
T. vivax is a major pathogenic trypanosome of domestic animals and is the dominant species in West Africa both in terms of geographic distribution and prevalence (Gardiner and Wilson, ; Osorio et al., ; FAO, ). Infections in cattle, also termed nagana, souma, or gobiat, are accompanied by weight loss, reduced milk yields, stillbirths, abortions, and mortality. Sheep, goats, horses, and camels also suffer pathogenic effects following T. vivax infection. T. vivax is predominantly transmitted by tsetse flies following cyclical development. Although mechanical transmission by biting flies other than tsetse flies such as horse flies (tabanids) and stable flies (Stomoxys) does occur in Africa, its relative importance to the epidemiological picture has been questioned. T. vivax can be cyclically transmitted by at least nine species of tsetse (especially G. morsitans spp., G. longipalpis, G. palpalis, G. tachinoides, and G. pallidipes) in which the development of infective metacyclic trypanosomes can take 3–13 days, depending on the parasite strain, the vector competence, and the thermo-hygrometric parameters of the environment (Gardiner and Wilson, ; Osorio et al., ; FAO, ).
A tsetse fly ingests trypanosomes during the acquisition of a blood meal on an infected mammal. Within the fly, the parasites have to go through a precise developmental cycle that culminates in the differentiation into infective metacyclic trypanosomes that are ready for transmission to the next mammalian host.
Trypanosomes possess a nucleus (N) and a single mitochondrion whose genetic material is condensed in a structure termed the kinetoplast (K) that is linked to the basal body apparatus of the flagellum (Hoare, ; Robinson and Gull, ). The flagellum is attached to the cell body and tracts the trypanosome forward, hence defining the antero-posterior axis of the cell. Two main characteristic morphotypes have been defined according to the relative position of the kinetoplast to the nucleus (Hoare, ). In trypomastigotes (T or Trypo), the kinetoplast localizes between the nucleus and the posterior end of the cell, whereas in epimastigote forms (E or Epi) it is positioned between the nucleus and the anterior end of the cell. A remarkable common feature in the parasite cycle progression of salivarian trypanosomes is the switch between these two morphotypes (Hoare, ; Rotureau and Van Den Abbeele, ).
Although T. vivax development appears to be simpler than that of T. b. brucei and T. congolense, it remains poorly studied (Rotureau and Van Den Abbeele, ). Most of the few observations, including the key description of some developmental stages in the sub-genus Duttonella, were published more than 75 years ago by Bruce et al. (, ), Lloyd and Johnson (Lloyd and Johnson, ), Roubaud (Roubaud, ), and reviewed by Hoare (). The classical theory was that cyclical development of T. vivax in Glossina was entirely confined to the proboscis, i.e., the labium, labrum, and hypopharynx (Figure 1A, Lloyd and Johnson, ; Roubaud, ). However, T. vivax parasites were also observed in the cibarium (pharynx) and proboscis of G. palpalis with mature parasite infections by Bruce et al. (). More recently, a similar observation was made in G. tachinoides (Jefferies et al., ) and in G. morsitans (Moloo and Gray, ). Therefore, it is likely that, at least in a number of tsetse, T. vivax cyclical development initially occurs in the cibarium/oesophageal region from where parasites migrate to the proboscis to complete their development.
Figure 1
Nevertheless, the available overall picture does not explain the continuous production of infective metacyclic parasites throughout the life of the vector. The exact developmental progression from the trypomastigote to the epimastigote, and back to the trypomastigote morphotype remains to be unraveled: does it involve asymmetric divisions as described in other trypanosomes (Van Den Abbeele et al.,
T. vivax infections in tsetse flies are characterized by: (i) high infection rates observed in various species (from 10 to 80%), (ii) an irregular frequency of metacyclic parasite release in the saliva, and (iii) some very low numbers of metacyclic forms extruded in these rare cases (approximately 1–20 parasites depending upon the strain, i.e., 50–100-fold less than for T. brucei) (Bruce et al.,
Materials and methods
T. vivax strain, maintenance and culture
Trypanosoma (Dutonella) vivax IL 1392 was originally derived from the Zaria Y486 Nigerian isolate (Chamond et al.,
Ethical statements
This study was carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the European Union (European Directive 2010/63/UE) and the French Government. Experimental infection procedures were approved by the Comité d'Ethique Paris Centre et Sud #59 (Permit #2012-0043). Animal housing conditions and the protocols used in the work described herein were approved by the “Direction des Transports et de la Protection du Public, Sous-Direction de la Protection Sanitaire et de l'Environnement, Police Sanitaire des Animaux” under number B-75-15-28, in accordance with the Ethics Charter of animal experimentation that includes appropriate procedures to minimize pain and animal suffering. BR is authorized to perform experiments on vertebrate animals (license #A-75-2035) and is responsible for all the experiments conducted personally or under his supervision.
Tsetse fly maintenance, infection and dissection
Teneral males of Glossina morsitans morsitans from 8 to 96 h post-eclosion were allowed to feed on mice infected with T. vivax at a parasitaemia comprised between 106 and 108 parasites/ml. Mice were first anesthetized by i.p. injection of 100 μl of a mix solution of Ketamine (Imalgene1000 at 125 mg per kg bodyweight) and Xylazine (Rompun 2% at 12.5 mg per kg bodyweight) and individually laid for 20 min on the upper net of a Roubaud cage containing no more than 50 tsetse flies. Mice were subsequently sacrificed by cervical dislocation before waking-up. Tsetse flies were subsequently maintained in Roubaud cages up to 15 days at 27°C and 70% hygrometry and fed twice a week through a silicone membrane with fresh sheep blood in heparin as previously described (Rotureau et al.,
Flies were starved for at least 24 h before being dissected at different time points from 1 to 14 days after ingestion of the infected meal. The head of each fly was first dissected and the proboscis placed into a drop of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) in order to separate the labium, labrum, and hypopharynx (Lloyd and Johnson,
Spit samples were obtained from group of 10 flies essentially as described by Peacock et al. (
For transmission experiments, flies fed on mice infected with T. vivax 7 days earlier, were allowed to feed on uninfected mice. Uninfected mice were first anesthetized by i.p. injection of 100 μl of a mix solution of Ketamine (Imalgene1000 at 125 mg per kg bodyweight) and Xylazine (Rompun 2% at 12.5 mg per kg bodyweight) and individually laid for 20 min on the upper net of a Roubaud cage containing no more than 15 tsetse flies. Parasitaemia was subsequently monitored daily over 1 month. Two replicates were performed with groups of 10 mice each.
Immunofluorescence
One limiting factor in the present study was the paucity of parasites that could be exploited from biological samples. Therefore, in order to concentrate parasites prior to immunofluorescence analysis (IFA), several protocols were tested: infected proboscis were first pooled and (i) vortexed at low speed for 5 s and/or treated with proteinase K (Sigma) to favor parasite detachment, (ii) and/or collected using Cytospin centrifuge cartridges (Thermofisher) to concentrate cells in smaller areas of the slides. Nevertheless, none of these attempts provided convincing improvements in terms of intact parasite yields (data not shown).
For immunofluorescence, cells were treated as previously described (Rotureau et al.,
Mab25 (mouse IgG2a, no dilution) labels a protein found all along the T. b. brucei axoneme (Pradel et al.,
Measurements and normalization
Samples were observed either with a DMR microscope (Leica) and images were captured with a CoolSnap HQ camera (Roper Scientific), or with a DMI4000B microscope (Leica) and images were acquired with an ORCA-03G camera (Hamamatsu). Image acquisition was controlled using Micro-manager and images were taken with the min/max threshold set at maximum. Subsequent normalization of signals was carried out by parallel manipulation of min/max signal against controls in ImageJ (NIH), and images were superimposed using Photoshop CS5. For clarity purposes, brightness and contrast of several pictures presented in figures were adjusted after their analysis in accordance with editorial policies. As previously described (Rotureau et al.,
Statistical analyses
Statistical analyses and plots were performed with Microsoft Excel 2011 and with the XLSTAT 2015.4.01 sofware (Addinsoft). Since many of the dimensions measured were likely to be internally correlated to some extent, all measured variables were preliminary checked for normal distribution and the entire measurement data-set was log-transformed for range homogenization in order to be subjected to principal components analysis using the XLSTAT 2015.4.01 sofware (Addinsoft). To extract underlying latent variables, a Pearson ACP was performed with three factors. Loadings were extracted and the absolute values plotted to determine the extent to which each of the individual measurements contributed to the three factors (Figure S1B). Factor 1 alone was accounting for 72.3% of the observed variance with an eigenvalue of 2.894 and in which the total cell length (30.3%) and the N-Post distance (24.7) were the most discriminant biometric parameters (Figure S1A). Then, extracted scores for all three factors were plotted for each trypanosome (Figures 2A–C). Each plot shows scores for PCA factors compared two by two and derived from the 1594 biometric measurements from 407 individual trypanosomes, each represented by a single dot. Dissection time points (Days 0, 2, 3, 4, and 7 after the infective meal in Figure 2A), parasite origins (organs and tissues in Figure 2B: Blood, Foregut, Cibarium, and Proboscis) and parasite stages (morphotypes and cell cycle steps in Figure 2C) were included as supplemental variables and represented by the indicated color code for each parasite (Figures 2A–C).
Figure 2

Principal components analysis (PCA). Each plot shows scores for PCA factor 1 vs. factor 2 (left raw) and factor 1 vs. factor 3 (right raw) defined in Figure S1 and derived from the 1594 biometric data measured on 407 individual trypanosomes representative for each time point and organ (detailed measurements in Tables 2, 3; Tables S1, S2). Factor 1 alone accounted for 72.3% of the observed variance and the total cell length (30.3%) and the N-Post distance (24.7%) were the most discriminant biometric parameters. Each trypanosome is represented by a colored dot according to the day after ingestion of the infected bloodmeal (A), the organ (B), or the stage (C). A significant number of 2K1N cells were included in a distinct EE/ET group because they were presenting one kinetoplast in the epimastigote configuration whereas the lateral and perinuclear localization of the second one did not allow a clear resolution between the Epi and Trypo configuration. To homogenize analyses and identify cell morphotypes in a blind manner, nuclei, kinetoplasts, and flagella were numbered along the antero-posterior axis independently from any other considerations. B, blood; FG, foregut; C, cibarium; P, proboscis; T, trypomastigote; E, epimastigote; EE, Epi-Epi dividing cell; TE, Trypo-Epi dividing cell; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus.
Results
Infection rates and parasites densities
In order to investigate how T. vivax trypanosomes proliferate and differentiate in the cibarium and proboscis, a total of 3650 Glossina morsitans morsitans teneral males were fed on Swiss mice infected with T. vivax IL 1392 in batches of 35–57 flies across 31 experiments.
To characterize our experimental model, tsetse infection rates were first checked under the microscope over the course of infection by serial dissections of the midgut, foregut, cibarium, and proboscis over 2 weeks after the infective meal (Figures 1A,B). One day after the infective meal, limited numbers of parasites were observed in almost all flies and in all organs but the hypopharynx (Figure 1C). Infection rates in the midgut and foregut then decreased gradually and concomitantly to the bloodmeal digestion process and were undetectable after 4 days. During the same period, infection rates in the cibarium and proboscis ranged between 11 and 52% of dissected flies. Comparable infection rates in these two organs were still observed up to 21 days after infection. Parasites were observed in the hypopharynx at days 3 and 4 after the infective meal in only 2% of the flies (Figure 1C).
Parasites of the cibarium and proboscis were mostly seen attached with their flagellum to the chitinous lining. Sparsely distributed along the entire length of the proboscis up to 2 days after ingestion, they were then seen grouped in one or two small islets restricted to the proximal part of the proboscis during the next few days (Figure 1B, Movies S1, S2). Indeed, a strong feature of the infection was the low parasite density in all organs of infected flies and at any time point. The exact number of parasites per fly was therefore determined in the foregut, cibarium, and proboscis of 3 groups of flies 3, 4, and 7 days after parasite ingestion. To allow for proper cell counting in trypanosome clusters, parasites were first flushed from dissected organs and all the extruded cells as well as those that were still attached to these organs were counted (Figure 1D). The maximum total number of parasites counted in a single fly was only 120 (day 7). From days 3 to 7 after ingestion, parasites progressively disappeared from the foregut, whereas their number increased up to 88 in the cibarium and 72 in the proboscis of a single fly.
Parasite stages and populations
To investigate parasite proliferation and differentiation, infected flies were dissected at different time points after the infective meal (days 2, 3, 4, and 7) and parasites were flushed from tissue (Midgut, Foregut, Cibarium, and Proboscis). Samples were subsequently treated to label their flagellum axoneme (Mab25) and their DNA content (DAPI) (Rotureau et al.,
Figure 3

Early stages in the foregut and cibarium. T. vivax parasites extracted from the foregut and cibarium of infected flies before 3 days post-ingestion of the infected bloodmeal were fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI (DNA in blue) and the Mab25 antibody (axoneme in green). The scale bars represent 10 μm and arrows indicate the kinetoplasts. Only non-dividing (1K1N) trypomastigotes were seen in the foregut (A) and non-dividing (1K1N) epimastigotes in the cibarium (B). K, kinetoplast; N: nucleus.
Table 1
| E 1K1N | T 1K1N | EE/TE 2K1N | EE 2K1N | EE 2K2N | TE 2K1N | TE 2K2N | Monsters nFnKnN | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % day | % organ | n | % day | % organ | n | % day | % organ | n | % day | % organ | n | % day | % organ | n | % day | % organ | n | % day | % organ | n | % day | % organ | n | n | ||
| Day 2 | FG | – | – | – | 23 | 59% | 96% | 1 | 3% | 4% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 39 |
| C | – | – | – | 1 | 3% | 100% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | ||
| P | – | – | – | 14 | 36% | 100% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | ||
| Day 3 | FG | 1 | 1% | 2% | 45 | 29% | 96% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1% | 2% | 47 | 156 |
| C | 47 | 30% | 82% | – | – | – | 4 | 3% | 7% | – | – | – | 1 | 1% | 2% | 3 | 2% | 5% | 2 | 1% | 4% | – | – | – | 57 | ||
| P | 38 | 24% | 73% | 5 | 3% | 10% | 3 | 2% | 6% | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 2% | 6% | 3 | 2% | 6% | – | – | – | 52 | ||
| Day 4 | FG | – | – | – | 13 | 4% | 93% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0% | 7% | 14 | 303 |
| C | 71 | 23% | 74% | 2 | 1% | 2% | 13 | 4% | 14% | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | 3% | 9% | – | – | – | 1 | 0% | 1% | 96 | ||
| P | 146 | 48% | 76% | 4 | 1% | 2% | 19 | 6% | 10% | – | – | – | 1 | 0% | 1% | 19 | 6% | 10% | 4 | 1% | 2% | – | – | – | 193 | ||
| Day 7 | FG | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 542 |
| C | 198 | 37% | 69% | 7 | 1% | 2% | 51 | 9% | 18% | 13 | 2% | 5% | – | – | – | 10 | 2% | 4% | 5 | 1% | 2% | 1 | 0% | 0% | 285 | ||
| P | 186 | 34% | 72% | 8 | 1% | 3% | 35 | 6% | 14% | 10 | 2% | 4% | – | – | – | 8 | 1% | 3% | 8 | 1% | 3% | 2 | 0% | 1% | 257 | ||
| TOTAL | 687 | 122 | 126 | 23 | 2 | 52 | 22 | 6 | 1040 | ||||||||||||||||||
Parasite populations by stage according to the day after ingestion and the organs.
A total of 1040 parasites flushed from 17 infected flies were fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI and the MAb25 antibody for stage determination and counting. For each stage, parasite populations are detailed by parasite counts, proportion of all parasites observed the same day, and proportion of all parasites observed in the same organ, according to the day after ingestion of the infected bloodmeal and to the organ. A significant number of 2K1N cells were included in a distinct EE/ET group because they were presenting one kinetoplast in the epimastigote configuration whereas the lateral and perinuclear localization of the second one did not allow a clear resolution between the Epi and Trypo configuration. To homogenize analyses and identify cell morphotypes in a blind manner, nuclei, kinetoplasts, and flagella were numbered along the antero-posterior axis independently from any other considerations. FG, foregut; C, cibarium; P, proboscis; T, trypomastigote; E, epimastigote; EE, Epi-Epi dividing cell; TE, Trypo-Epi dividing cell; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus; F, flagellum.
To allow a better understanding of morphotype transitions, as well as to characterize each distinct stage, 1594 biometric measurements were performed on 407 individual trypanosomes representative for each time point and organ, as previously described (Rotureau et al.,
Table 2
| Stage | Total | F1 | K1-N1 | N1-Post | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | |
| BSF T 1K1N | 17.5 | 2.9 | 23 | 21.0 | 2.6 | 23 | 5.0 | 0.7 | 22 | 6.3 | 1.1 | 23 |
| Foregut T 1K1N | 19.3 | 5.0 | 64 | 21.5 | 3.3 | 64 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 64 | 7.3 | 2.0 | 64 |
| E 1K1N | 10.1 | 1.5 | 224 | 10.5 | 1.5 | 224 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 224 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 224 |
| Proboscis T 1K1N | 9.9 | 2.5 | 10 | 8.6 | 2.6 | 10 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 10 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 10 |
Morphometric measurements in non-dividing 1K1N stages.
A total of 321 parasites representative of the 4 identified non-dividing stages were fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI and the Mab25 antibody for biometric measurements. This table summarizes all the morphometric measurements performed in the present study in 1K1N parasites. The mean lengths ±SD and numbers of cells studied are given in μm for 4 parameters: the total length of the cell from the tip of the flagellum to the posterior end of the cell (Total), the length of the flagellum (F1), the distance between the center of the nucleus and the kinetoplast (K1-N1), the distance between the center of the nucleus and the posterior end of cell (N1-Post). BSF, bloodstream forms; T, trypomastigote; E, epimastigote; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus; F, flagellum.
Table 3
| Stage | Total | F1 | K1-N1 | N1-Post | F2 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | |
| EE/TE 2K1N | 12.1 | 1.3 | 46 | 8.2 | 1.3 | 46 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 46 | 4.8 | 0.8 | 46 | 6.1 | 2.7 | 46 |
| EE 2K1N | 14.4 | 1.3 | 23 | 5.5 | 0.6 | 8 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 23 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 23 | 7.3 | 2.4 | 8 |
| EE 2K2N | 9.7 | 0.8 | 2 | 11.2 | 0.9 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 4 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 4 | |||
| TE 2K2N | 11.9 | 1.3 | 10 | 7.8 | 1.9 | 8 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 10 | 7.6 | 0.7 | 10 | 9.2 | 1.4 | 8 |
| Stage | K2-N1 | K1-K2 | K2-N2 | N2-Post | N1-N2 | ||||||||||
| Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | Mean | SD | n | |
| EE/TE 2K1N | 1.3 | 0.3 | 46 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 46 | |||||||||
| EE 2K1N | 4.4 | 1.2 | 23 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 23 | |||||||||
| EE 2K2N | 2.1 | 0.1 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| TE 2K2N | 2.5 | 0.6 | 10 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 10 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 10 | 4.9 | 1.1 | 10 | |||
Morphometric measurements in dividing stages.
A total of 83 parasites representative of the 2 types of cell division identified in the cibarium and proboscis were fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI and the Mab25 antibody for biometric measurements. This table summarizes all the morphometric measurements performed in the present study in 2K1N and 2K2N parasites. The mean lengths ±SD and numbers of cells studied are given in μm for 10 parameters (cf. organization of dividing cells in Figures 4D, 5D): the total length of the cell from the tip of the flagellum to the posterior end of the cell (Total), the length of the flagellum associated to the anterior/old kinetoplast (F1), the distance between the center of the anterior nucleus and the anterior/old kinetoplast (K1-N1), the distance between the center of the anterior nucleus and the posterior end of cell (N1-Post), the length of the flagellum associated to the posterior/new kinetoplast (F2), the distance between the center of the anterior nucleus and the posterior/new kinetoplast (K2-N1), the distance between the two kinetoplasts (K1-K2), the distance between the center of the posterior nucleus and the posterior/new kinetoplast (K2-N2), the distance between the center of the posterior nucleus and the posterior end of cell (N2-Post), the distance between the two nuclei (N1-N2). A significant number of 2K1N cells were included in a distinct EE/ET group because they were presenting one kinetoplast in the epimastigote configuration whereas the lateral and perinuclear localization of the second one did not allow a clear resolution between the Epi and Trypo configuration. To homogenize analyses and identify cell morphotypes in a blind manner, nuclei, kinetoplasts, and flagella were numbered along the antero-posterior axis independently from any other considerations. T, trypomastigote; E, epimastigote; EE, Epi-Epi dividing cell; TE, Trypo-Epi dividing cell; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus; F, flagellum.
Combination of all these data in space and time allowed us to unravel, at least partially, T. vivax cyclical development in the tsetse fly. For clarity purposes, the main observations are detailed hereafter following the bio-chronological progression of parasite development.
Parasites from the midgut and foregut
Whereas dividing trypomastigote bloodstream forms were easily detected in mouse blood (Figure S2), only non-dividing (1K1N1F) cells were observed in flies during the first 48 h after ingestion (Figure 3A and Table 1). These non-dividing cells were mostly seen in the midgut and especially in the foregut (59%) where they elongated from 17.5 ± 2.9 to 26.4 ± 4.6 μm (Table 2 and Table S1). In apparent transition to the epimastigote stage, nuclear DNA was usually fragmented (Figure 3A). These cells in the midgut and foregut decreased by days 3 and 4 post-infection (Table 1).
Parasite from the cibarium and proboscis
Non-dividing (1K1N1F) epimastigotes were observed from day 3 after the infective meal in the cibarium and proboscis (Figure 3B), accounting for 30 and 24% of the parasite population respectively (Table 1). They were detected in increasing numbers in these organs up to day 7 (Table 1).
Concomitantly, dividing epimastigotes were detected from day 3 after the infective meal (Table 1 and Figure 4). A significant number of 2K1N cells were presenting one kinetoplast in the epimastigote configuration whereas the lateral and perinuclear localization of the second one did not allow a clear resolution between the epimastigote and trypomastigote configuration (126 EE/TE in Table 1). In total, 2K1N2F epimastigotes (Figure 4B) represented up to 23% of the parasites present in the cibarium after 7 days (EE/TE 2K1N + EE 2K1N in Table 1).
Figure 4

Epi-epi dividing parasites in the cibarium and proboscis. T. vivax parasites extracted from the cibarium and proboscis of infected flies 4–7 days post-ingestion of the infected bloodmeal were fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI (DNA in blue) and the Mab25 antibody (axoneme in green). The scale bars represent 10 μm and the old/anterior (arrow) and new/posterior (arrowhead) kinetoplasts are indicated. Cells are presented according to their situation in the cell cycle: (A) 1K1N, (B) 2K1N, and (C) 2K2N. (D) Cartoon showing the organization of a 2K2N Epi-Epi cell dividing symmetrically. To homogenize analyses and identify cell morphotypes in a blind manner, nuclei, kinetoplasts, and flagella were numbered along the antero-posterior axis independently from any other considerations. E, epimastigote; EE, Epi-Epi dividing cell; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus; F, flagellum.
From microscopic observations (Figure 4 and Figure S3) and morphometric measurements (Table 3 and Table S2), it appears that T. vivax dividing epimastigote cells are similar to that observed in T. brucei brucei epimastigotes attached to the salivary glands (Rotureau et al.,
Indeed, an equivalent proportion of epimastigote cells (between 1 and 5% of the total per organ) were seen dividing asymmetrically (Figure 5). In these parasites, the posterior kinetoplast associated to the old flagellum (K2 and F2) were in the epimastigote (Epi) position, whereas the anterior kinetoplast and new flagellum (K1 and F1) were in the trypomastigote (Trypo) configuration (Figures 5C,D). These Trypo-Epi cells were observed as early as 3 days after the infective meal and a total of 52 2K1N2F and 22 2K2N2F cells were counted in the cibarium and proboscis of the dissected flies (Table 1).
Figure 5

Trypo-epi dividing parasites in the cibarium and proboscis. T. vivax parasites extracted from the cibarium and proboscis of infected flies 4–7 days post-ingestion of the infected bloodmeal were fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI (DNA in blue) and the Mab25 antibody (axoneme in green). The scale bars represent 10 μm and the old/anterior (arrow) and new/posterior (arrowhead) kinetoplasts are indicated. Cells are presented according to their situation in the cell cycle: (A) 1K1N, (B) 2K1N, and (C) 2K2N. (D) Cartoon showing the organization of a 2K2N Trypo-Epi cell dividing asymmetrically. To homogenize analyses and identify cell morphotypes in a blind manner, nuclei, kinetoplasts, and flagella were numbered along the antero-posterior axis independently from any other considerations. T, trypomastigote; E, epimastigote; TE, Trypo-Epi dividing cell; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus; F, flagellum.
When comparing the cellular events involved in these two types of division, we observed that, after segregation, kinetoplasts were seen to migrate anteriorly and to reposition along the antero-posterior axis of the cell in Epi-Epi parasites (K1N1 6.3 ± 1.6 μm and K2N1 4.4 ± 1.2 μm at almost constant N1-Post distance). In contrast, the kinetoplasts of Trypo-Epi cells were seen to segregate up to 2.5 ± 0.6 μm in the vicinity and on each side of the nucleus (K1N1 2.1 ± 0.5 μm and K2N1 2.5 ± 0.6 μm at almost constant N1-Post distance) while this nucleus was migrating anteriorly (N1-Post 7.6 ± 0.7 μm). Then, mitosis occured in the antero-posterior axis in Epi-Epi cells where the two nuclei remained very close to each other until cytokinesis (2.1 ± 0.1 μm). These 2K2N Epi-Epi cells elongated up to 14.4 ± 1.3 μm with both parent and daughter flagella of equivalent length (Table 3 and Table S2, Figure 4D). In contrast, mitosis occurs in a more transversal manner in Trypo-Epi cells with one nucleus (N1) migrating anteriorly (N1-N2 4.9 ± 1.1 μm). No cell elongation but a widening was observed in these 2K2N Trypo-Epi cells and their flagella were also of equivalent length (Table 3 and Table S2, Figure 5D).
Pre-metacyclic forms
If the Epi-Epi division contributes to the colonization and maintenance of the epimastigote population found attached to the cibarium and proboscis, it is tempting to associate the Trypo-Epi division to the production of precursors of infective metacyclic trypomastigotes or pre-metacyclics. In order to verify this hypothesis, a panel of bloodstream form markers were used for immunofluorescence screening: the anti-TS2 and anti-TS3 antibodies targeting T. vivax surface trans-sialidases (Ammar et al.,
Limited numbers of 1K1N trypomastigotes were observed in the cibarium and proboscis of infected flies from day 3 after the infective meal (Table 1 and Figure 6A). Over the course of infection, their proportion remained constant around 2 to 3% of the total cells (Table 1). Moreover, among all the flies dissected in this study, only two trypomastigotes were detected in the hypopharynx. We reasoned that this low number could be biased by the possible release of free-swimming metacyclic cells in the PBS drop during dissection and before microscopic observation. To verify this hypothesis, 90 flies were fed on 2 infected mice, maintained for 12 days, starved for 48 h, and finally allowed to probe on warm glass slides 14 days after ingestion of the infective bloodmeal. Saliva drops were first screened under the microscope to check for the presence of metacyclic forms and mouthparts were then dissected to verify the fly infection status (Figure 6B). Although 26% of the flies were found infected, only 10 trypomastigotes, morphologically similar to pre-metacyclic parasites, were detected on slides where flies were allowed to probe, therefore confirming the scarcity of these forms.
Figure 6

Metacyclic-like trypomastigote parasites from proboscis and saliva. T. vivax parasites extracted from the proboscis of infected flies 7 days post-ingestion of the infected bloodmeal (A) or collected from saliva probes 14 days post-ingestion of the infected bloodmeal (B) were fixed in PFA and stained with DAPI (DNA in blue) and the Mab25 antibody (axoneme in green in B). The scale bars represent 10 μm and arrows in (A) indicate kinetoplasts.
In order to test their transmission efficiency, batches of 15 flies were fed on mice infected with T. vivax and maintained for 7 days before the transmission experiment. In these conditions, each batch should theoretically contain at least 3 infected flies (around 26%). Flies were allowed to feed on anesthetized uninfected mice for 20 min and parasitaemia was then individually monitored at least 4 times per week over 1 month. Two replicates with groups of 10 mice were performed, nevertheless, no parasite transmission was observed. This result was in accordance with the reduced/absent cyclical transmission of T. vivax in mice reported in the literature (De Gee et al.,
Controls from in vitro culture
In the absence of molecular markers for metacyclogenesis and without any evidence for efficient transmission from tsetse to mice, we reasoned that another way to confirm the origin of metacyclic forms would be with an in vitro approach. To this end, the recent optimization and standardization of non-infective T. vivax epimastigote axenic cultures that lead to in vitro differentiation into metacyclic infective forms was used (D'Archivio et al.,
Figure 7

T. vivax dividing forms in culture. T. vivax parasites were cultured for 15 days, fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI (DNA in blue) and the Mab25 antibody (axoneme in green). (A) Parasite populations were plotted by stage and cell cycle step (in % of the total cells, n = 293 cells). (B) Representative Epi-Epi and Trypo-Epi dividing cells. The scale bars represent 10 μm and the old/anterior (arrow) and new/posterior (arrowhead) kinetoplasts are indicated. T, trypomastigote; E, epimastigote; EE, Epi-Epi dividing cell; TE, Trypo-Epi dividing cell; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus.
Discussion
During the last decade, a significant number of reviews have presented in-depth overviews of our knowledge on trypanosome cyclical development and tsetse-trypanosome interactions focusing almost exclusively on T. brucei parasites (Aksoy and Rio,
Figure 8

Proposed model for the T. vivax cyclical development. Parasites extracted from infected tsetse flies were fixed in methanol and stained with DAPI (DNA in red). The scheme represents all the observed parasite stages according to the kinetics of the infection and to their localization (by host and organ). Arrows indicate transition between two successive stages and red question marks highlight transitions remaining partially or fully undetermined. The scale bar represents 10 μm. Trypo, trypomastigote; Epi, epimastigote; K, kinetoplast; N, nucleus.
T. vivax development
In T. vivax, a single type of trypomastigote is able to proliferate in the bloodstream of the mammalian host. After a tsetse ingests an infected bloodmeal, bloodstream trypomastigotes degenerate in the midgut during digestion within a few days, while only a small number of elongated trypomastigote forms remain in the foregut and cibarial regions. As assessed by their nuclear DNA fragmentation and their progressive disappearance, trypomastigotes remaining in the foregut are certainly doomed to die. There are apparently no proliferative trypomastigote stages as in T. congolense and T. b. brucei, and our PCA analysis revealed no clear continuum from these early foregut trypomastigotes to the epimastigote population found in the cibarium and proboscis. One unlikely hypothesis is that the first trypomastigote to epimastigote differentiation may occur early (during the first 48 h), in a transient asymmetrically dividing stage, although evidence for this remains elusive (Jefferies et al.,
Epimastigote parasites subsequently multiply at the foci of attachment to form rosettes (Bruce et al.,
When the pre-metacyclic trypomastigotes arising from the asymmetric division become detached, they are thought to swim toward and to invade the hypopharynx where they mature into the short infective trypomastigote metacyclic forms (Lloyd and Johnson,
Nevertheless, the generation/identification of more efficient metacyclic-specific markers will be necessary to unequivocally demonstrate the importance of this asymmetric division for metacyclogenesis in future studies, possibly in another model including a more virulent parasite strain.
Morphotype switch and asymmetric division
A common feature of the tsetse-transmitted African trypanosome developmental programs is the passage through the epimastigote morphotype. One of the key questions was whether any form equivalent to the two asymmetric dividing stages of T. brucei could be found for T. vivax (Van Den Abbeele et al.,
Nevertheless, the biological reason for this obligatory morphotype switch remains elusive (Rotureau and Van Den Abbeele,
This morphotype switch implies a drastic internal re-organization of the nucleus and kinetoplast that might represent a costly cellular event. Therefore, the occurrence of this switch in all these cyclical developmental programs suggests that it plays an essential role in the parasite life cycle. The highly distinct developmental pathways of the three different trypanosome groups could be the result of a long-term co-evolution between parasites and their vectors that minimizes inter-trypanosome competition within the tsetse fly in order to maximize their respective transmission (Rotureau and Van Den Abbeele,
The mouse is apparently not a natural mammalian host in which most of the T. vivax strains can develop and proliferate (De Gee et al.,
Funding
This work was funded by the Institut Pasteur (PTR-403) and by the French National Agency for Scientific Research (Young Researcher Grant ANR-14-CE14-0019-01). CO and CC were funded by a French Government Investissement d'Avenir programme, Laboratoire d'Excellence “Integrative Biology of Emerging Infectious Diseases” (ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID). SC was funded by a master fellowship from Institut Pasteur. EB was funded by a doctoral fellowship from French National Ministry for Research and Technology (doctoral school CDV515). AC, SG, SP, and BR were funded by Institut Pasteur.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Statements
Author contributions
CO, SC, CC, EB, AC, SG, SP, and BR contributed to the experiments. CO, SC, and BR contributed to study design, data analysis and manuscript writing.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge Virginie Coustou, Théo Baltz, Derrick Robinson and Keith Gull for providing various antibodies, Cameron MacPherson for his help with PCA, and Robert Menard for access to the cytospin equipment. We are grateful to Paola Minoprio, Trypanosomatids Infectious Processes Laboratory, Institut Pasteur, Department of Infection and Epidemiology, for T. vivax parasites, mouse infections and financial support. We especially thank Philippe Bastin for his strong support, his invaluable proofreading and his in-depth discussion of the manuscript.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Supplementary material
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fcimb.2016.00115
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Summary
Keywords
Trypanosoma vivax, tsetse fly, parasite cycle, differentiation, asymmetric division, development
Citation
Ooi C-P, Schuster S, Cren-Travaillé C, Bertiaux E, Cosson A, Goyard S, Perrot S and Rotureau B (2016) The Cyclical Development of Trypanosoma vivax in the Tsetse Fly Involves an Asymmetric Division. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 6:115. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2016.00115
Received
28 July 2016
Accepted
12 September 2016
Published
28 September 2016
Volume
6 - 2016
Edited by
Miguel Prudêncio, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
Reviewed by
Jan Van Den Abbeele, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium; Alvaro AcostaSerrano, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
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Copyright
© 2016 Ooi, Schuster, Cren-Travaillé, Bertiaux, Cosson, Goyard, Perrot and Rotureau.
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*Correspondence: Brice Rotureau rotureau@pasteur.fr
†These authors have contributed equally to this work.
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