Mechanisms of Host Behavioral Change in Toxoplasma gondii Rodent Association

Mechanisms of Host Behavioral Change in Toxoplasma gondii Rodent Association

The behavioral manipulation hypothesis predicts that parasites can change host behavior in a way that benefits the parasites and not the host (extensively reviewed in [1–9]). In other words, the hypothesis predicts that genes of a parasite can produce an "extended" phenotype that manifests beyond a parasite's soma [10]. Protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (henceforth toxoplasma) is an often-ci...

Host Manipulation by Toxoplasma gondii

Purification of Toxoplasma gondii from host cells.

Host Cell Penetration of Toxoplasma gondii.

The host cell penetration of Toxoplasma gondii was studied with reference to synthesis of a penetration-enhancing factor and the penetrative capacity of the parasites during the various phases of the infectious cycle. HeLa cells as suspension or monolayer cultures were infected with Toxoplasma. After a lag phase shorter than 1 hr, there was a synthesis of penetration-enhancing factor demonstrab...

Toxoplasma gondii and the host cells.

The protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, described by Nicolle and Manceaux in 1908, is a ubiquitous and cosmopolitan parasite that infects a wide range of mammal and bird species with high prevalence. The biological success of T. gondii is associated with the formation of a specific relationship between the parasite and host cells leading to the establishment of a latent, chronic infection. During prim...