Basic biology of Trichomonas vaginalis: current explorations and future directions

ORCID

Kirkwood M. Land: 0000-0001-5951-9630

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Department

Biological Sciences

ISSN

Print: 1368-4973, Electronic: 1472-3263

Volume

89

Issue

6

DOI

10.1136/sextrans-2013-051153

First Page

416

Last Page

417

Publication Date

9-1-2013

Abstract

Trichomonas vaginalis is a member of the Parabasalia, a group of single-celled eukaryotes within the clade Excavata, which also includes parasites of genera such as Giardia and Trypanosoma. The ability to culture the parasite under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions has allowed simple manipulation in the laboratory. Studies of the basic biology of this organism not only provide important information about its unique cellular and metabolic features and contribute to our understanding of the evolution of anaerobic parasites and diversity among eukaryotes, but also contribute to the design of new drugs to cure infections. The publication of the genome sequence in 20071 identified several unique characteristics of the organism, such as the large genome size (∼160 megabases), extensive gene duplication and presence of families of transposable elements. It also facilitated data mining and the generation of ‘omic’ data sets, especially from transcriptomic and proteomic studies.

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