EMD Seminar Series: Dr. Brian Weiss
"Three’s company: the tsetse fly, an endosymbiotic bacteria, and a vertebrate pathogen”
Tsetse flies are prominent vectors of pathogenic African trypanosomes, the causative agents of epidemiologically and socioeconomically devastating human and animal African trypanosomiases (commonly called sleeping sickness and nagana, respectively) across sub-Saharan Africa. When tsetse ingests a blood meal containing infectious African trypanosomes, the parasites must cross a physical barrier called the ‘peritrophic matrix’ (PM) in the fly’s midgut in order to establish an infection and subsequently be transmitted to a new animal host. I will discuss ongoing research that implicates one of tsetse’s endosymbiotic bacteria as mediator of successful trypanosome circumvention of tsetse’s PM barrier.
YSPH values inclusion and access for all participants
If you have questions about accessibility or would like to request an accommodation, please contact Christina Ciarleglio - christina.ciarleglio@yale.edu; Fran Tizard - francesica.tizard@yale.edu; Quiesha Ham - Quiesha Ham - quiesha.ham@yale.edu