Figures
Section through paired male and female schistosomes.
Parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma cause disease when their eggs become trapped in host organs and elicit immune responses that result in tissue damage. A remarkable aspect of schistosome biology is that females remain reproductively mature only when paired with males in vivo. Galanti et al. show that failure to make eggs in the absence of males, or in vitro, is due to apoptosis within the vitellarium, a proliferative organ that produces vitelline cells, an essential component of the egg. Understanding schistosome reproduction may offer opportunities to prevent transmission and disease.
Image Credit: Sarah Galanti
Citation: (2012) PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Issue Image | Vol. 6(2) February 2012. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 6(2): ev06.i02. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pntd.v06.i02
Published: February 28, 2012
Copyright: © 2012 Galanti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma cause disease when their eggs become trapped in host organs and elicit immune responses that result in tissue damage. A remarkable aspect of schistosome biology is that females remain reproductively mature only when paired with males in vivo. Galanti et al. show that failure to make eggs in the absence of males, or in vitro, is due to apoptosis within the vitellarium, a proliferative organ that produces vitelline cells, an essential component of the egg. Understanding schistosome reproduction may offer opportunities to prevent transmission and disease.
Image Credit: Sarah Galanti