Figure 2. GFP expression does not affect the growth, viability and metacyclogenesis of T. cruzi.

(A) Growth curves of wild-type (Dm28c) and pBEX/GFP cultured epimastigotes showing no significant difference in growth; cell density was determined with an electronic particle counter (Z2 Coulter Particle Count and Size Analyzer, Beckman Coulter®). (B) Cell viability analysis of epimastigote cultures by vital dye (propidium iodide - PI) staining and flow cytometry quantification of PI-positive cells. (C) Metacyclogenesis efficiency in wild-type and pBEX/GFP cultures; after metacyclogenesis induction (details in methods) the density of metacyclic forms in the culture supernatant was obtained daily, by direct counting in a Neubauer chamber. For all plots, each experimental point represents the mean and standard deviation of triplicate experiments.