Drug resistance has emerged as a devasting impediment to the treatment and control of diseases of parasitic origin. The underlying mechanisms that contribute to this drug resistance in field isolates, however, are poorly understood. Members of the P-glycoprotein gene (pgp) family have been identified, cloned, and sequenced in Plasmodia, Leishmania, and Entamoeba, and variations in pgp copy numb...

A comparison of gene content and genome architecture of Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania major, three related pathogens with different life cycles and disease pathology, revealed a conserved core proteome of about 6200 genes in large syntenic polycistronic gene clusters. Many species-specific genes, especially large surface antigen families, occur at nonsyntenic chromosome-...

Repetitive DNA elements have been a part of the genomic fauna of eukaryotes perhaps since their very beginnings. Millions of years of coevolution have given repeats central roles in chromosome maintenance and genetic modulation. Here we review the genomes of parasitic protozoa in the context of the current understanding of repetitive elements. Particular reference is made to repeats in five med...

BACKGROUND: Protozoa are common in poultry and otherbirds and can cause mild to severe disease. OBJECTIVES: Thisstudy was concerned with the prevalence of parasitic protozoa inwild waterfowl in Caspian sea lagoons in the North of Iran.METHODS:Atotal of 293 waterfowl belonging to various generaincluding Tadorna tadorna (common shelduck),Aythya fuligula(Tufted duck), Aythya ferina (Common puchard...

Frontiers in research on parasitic protozoa was the theme of the Autumn Symposium of the British Section of the Society of Protozoologists, held 2 September 2002, in London, UK.

Protozoa constitute the earliest branch of the eukaryotic lineage, and several groups of protozoans are serious parasites of humans and other animals. Better understanding of biochemical pathways that are either in common with or divergent from those of higher eukaryotes is integral in the defense against these parasites. In yeast and humans, the posttranslational methylation of arginine residu...

This report addresses Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Cyclospora, and more briefly, Toxoplasma as the main parasitic protozoa of concern to food production worldwide. Other parasitic protozoa may be spread in food or water but are not considered as great a risk to food manufacture. The protozoan parasites Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Cyclospora have proven potential to cause waterborne and foodborne...

Cell fractionation, a methodological strategy for obtaining purified organelle preparations, has been applied successfully to parasitic protozoa by a number of investigators. Here we present and discuss the work of several groups that have obtained highly purified subcellular fractions from trypanosomatids, Apicomplexa and trichomonads, and whose work have added substantially to our knowledge o...