Editing Trypanosomatida (section)

== Life cycle ==

Some trypanosomatids only occupy a single [[Host (biology)|host]], while many others are [[heteroxenous]]: they live in more than one host species over their life cycle. This heteroxenous life cycle typically includes the [[intestine]] of a bloodsucking [[insect]] and the blood and/or tissues of a [[vertebrate]]. Rarer hosts include other bloodsucking invertebrates, such as [[leech]]es,<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020751905000020 | doi=10.1016/j.ijpara.2004.12.005 | title=A new lineage of trypanosomes from Australian vertebrates and terrestrial bloodsucking leeches (Haemadipsidae) | journal=International Journal for Parasitology | date=April 2005 | volume=35 | issue=4 | pages=431–443 | last1=Hamilton | first1=P. B. | last2=Stevens | first2=J. R. | last3=Gidley | first3=J. | last4=Holz | first4=P. | last5=Gibson | first5=W. C. | pmid=15777919 }}</ref> and other organisms such as [[plant]]s. Different species go through a range of different morphologies at different stages of the life cycle, with most having at least two different morphologies. Typically the promastigote and epimastigote forms are found in insect hosts, trypomastigote forms in the mammalian [[bloodstream]] and amastigotes in [[intracellular]] environments. {{cn|date=March 2023}}

Among commonly studied examples, ''[[Trypanosoma brucei|T. brucei]]'', ''[[Trypanosoma congolense|T. congolense]]'', and ''[[Trypanosoma vivax|T. vivax]]'' are extracellular, while ''[[Trypanosoma cruzi|T. cruzi]]'' and ''[[Leishmania]]'' spp. are intracellular.<ref name = "Tissue-Tropism-in-Parasitic-Diseases" /> Trypanosomatids with intracellular stages express {{ Visible anchor |δ-amastin}} proteins on their surfaces.<ref name = "Tissue-Tropism-in-Parasitic-Diseases" /> de Paiva ''et al.'', 2015 illuminates δ-amastins' roles in intracellular success.<ref name = "Tissue-Tropism-in-Parasitic-Diseases" >
{{ Cite journal
 | doi=10.1098/rsob.190036
 | pmid=31088251
 | pmc=6544988
| title=Tissue tropism in parasitic diseases
 | date=2019
 | last1=Silva Pereira
 | first1=Sara
 | last2=Trindade
 | first2=Sandra
 | last3=De Niz
 | first3=Mariana
 | last4=Figueiredo
 | first4=Luisa M.
 | journal=Open Biology
 | volume=9
 | issue=5
 | page=190036
 }}</ref>

===Sexual reproduction===

Trypanosomatids that cause globally known diseases such [[leishmaniasis]] (''[[Leishmania]]'' species), [[African trypanosomiasis]] referred to as sleeping sickness (''[[Trypanosoma brucei]]''), and [[Chagas disease]] (''[[Trypanosoma cruzi]]'') were found to be capable of [[meiosis]] and [[genetic recombination|genetic exchange]].<ref name = Silva2022>{{cite journal | doi=10.1590/1678-4685-GMB-2022-0065 | title=Sex in protists: A new perspective on the reproduction mechanisms of trypanosomatids | date=2022 | last1=Silva | first1=Verônica Santana da | last2=Machado | first2=Carlos Renato | journal=Genetics and Molecular Biology | volume=45 | issue=3 | pages=e20220065 | pmid=36218381 | pmc=9552303 }}</ref> These findings indicate the capability for [[sexual reproduction]] in the Trypanosomatida.<ref name = Silva2022/>