Parasite Burst 2

Parasite Burst 2

Clare Harding, Lourido Lab

MIT Department of Biology, Whitehead Institute

I have three images showing the lifecycle of intracellular pathogen Toxoplasma gondii. Although only around 1/20th the size of a human hair, these single celled parasites replicate by building two daughter cells which grow before bursting out of the mother (this can be seen in this image). I am interested in this process and the proteins required for forming and maintaining the structure of the parasite during its division. In this image, the human cell nucleus is shown in purple, giving an indication of scale. 

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