Fig 3. Binding of T. cruzi TcSMUG L products to T. infestans midgut tissues.

A) Midgut tissues obtained from T. infestans fifth-instar nymphs 12–15 days after the last bloodmeal were incubated with 2 x 10³ epimastigotes from the indicated line and the number of adhered epimastigotes per 100 epithelial cells were counted in 10 different fields of each tissue preparation. For each experimental group, 10 insects were used and experiments were performed in triplicate. Data are expressed as mean ± S.D. and asterisks denoted significant differences between the population means (P < 0.0001) assessed by ANOVA and Tukey's tests. B) Confocal laser microscopy of the inner surface of T. infestans midguts incubated with total lysates from the indicated transgenic line, followed by mAb anti-FLAG-based indirect immunofluorescence assay. A control staining of the anti-FLAG mAb in the absence of parasite lysate is shown (-).