Chapter 17.4, Problem 2MQ

Summary Introduction

The Trypanosoma brucei is the species of the parasite kinetoplastids. The kinetoplastids are the well-studied group of euglenozoans which are named for the presence of the kinetoplasts. The kinetoplasts are the DNA mass present in the large mitochondrion. Trypanosoma brucei belongs to the species Trypanosoma. This parasite is the main causative agent of African sleeping sickness which is a chronic and usually fatal disease in humans. This parasite primarily lives and grows in the bloodstream and gets invaded into the central nervous systems during the later stage of the disease and causes brain and spinal cord inflammation.