A panel of phenotypically and genotypically diverse bioluminescent:fluorescent Trypanosoma cruzi strains as a resource for Chagas disease research.
Olmo, Francisco;
Jayawardhana, Shiromani;
Khan, Archie A;
Langston, Harry C;
Francisco, Amanda Fortes;
Atherton, Richard L;
Ward, Alex I;
Taylor, Martin C;
Kelly, John M;
Lewis, Michael D;
(2024)
A panel of phenotypically and genotypically diverse bioluminescent:fluorescent Trypanosoma cruzi strains as a resource for Chagas disease research.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 18 (5).
e0012106-.
ISSN 1935-2727
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012106
Permanent Identifier
Use this Digital Object Identifier when citing or linking to this resource.
Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that displays considerable genetic diversity. Infections result in a range of pathological outcomes, and different strains can exhibit a wide spectrum of anti-parasitic drug tolerance. The genetic determinants of infectivity, virulence and therapeutic susceptibility remain largely unknown. As experimental tools to address these issues, we have generated a panel of bioluminescent:fluorescent parasite strains that cover the diversity of the T. cruzi species. These reporters allow spatio-temporal infection dynamics in murine models to be monitored in a non-invasive manner by in vivo imaging, provide a capability to detect rare infection foci at single-cell resolution, and represent a valuable resource for investigating virulence and host:parasite interactions at a mechanistic level. Importantly, these parasite reporter strains can also contribute to the Chagas disease drug screening cascade by ensuring that candidate compounds have pan-species in vivo activity prior to being advanced into clinical testing. The parasite strains described in this paper are available on request.