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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Feb 16.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019 Aug 23;17(10):607–620. doi: 10.1038/s41579-019-0238-x

Figure 2: Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and bradyzoites.

Figure 2:

T. gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, undergoes asexual replication in nucleated host cells of intermediate hosts (such as rodents and humans). During initial infection tachyzoites disseminate throughout the host and cause acute disease. In response to immune pressure and environmental stress, the parasite differentiates into bradyzoites, which form tissue cysts within host cells and give rise to persistent infection (chronic stage). Shown are microscopy images of the tachyzoite (visualized using polyclonal rabbit anti- surface antigen 1 antibody with Alexa Fluor 488) and a tissue cyst containing bradyzoites (brightfield image). Current therapies are successful only against the acute phase, but fail to eliminate the chronic stage. See reference 80 for further detail on bradyzoite development. Image on the right courtesy of, L. David Sibley (Washington University School of Medicine, USA). Image on the left reproduced from Ref 81.