Toxoplasma Gondii Part 1: The Cat Parasite

In this episode, Biologists Being Basic (B3) hosts Paige, Gina and Robyn talk to special guest, Professor Pascale Guiton, about her research on the fascinating life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii. In part one, we take a deeper look into the science behind the king of parasites. Further Resources: For further information on topics we talked about in Episode 7: Part 1, we highly recommend visiting Professor Guiton’s website and looking into her publications: https://guitonlab.com/ In addition, you can watch Dr. Guiton talk about Toxoplasma gondii and her research on QBI TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckixqEbxZfs For another look at Gina’s question (does this parasite make her love cats so much), check out this Ted-Ed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqno7K2zXi4 Dr. Guiton references work by Dr. Laura Knoll’s team on the role of delta-6-desaturase in Toxoplasma sexual reproduction: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31430281/ ...and also discusses this study by Vyas et al on the behavioral changes induced by Toxoplasma infection in mice: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17404235/ Concerned about toxoplasmosis and pregnancy? No you don’t have to give up your cat, instead visit the CDC for more info: https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/toxoplasmosis/gen_info/pregnant.html Dr. Guiton mentioned the call for a One Health framework to study Toxoplasma gondii, described in this review: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10393-019-01405-7 ...and references fluorescent staining of Toxoplasma gondii done by Dr. Sebastian Lourido. For cool videos and images of brightly colored Toxo (and coverage of his most recent research), watch this feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOnhthD3yz4 We talked about Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, who was the first to observe microscopic organisms (“animalcules”): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/07/antoni-leeuwenhoek-microbe-microscope-discovery-contribution/ Still fascinated by parasites and want to learn more? Check out this “hilarious and ever-so-slightly creepy” Ted talk by Ed Yong, who describes the biology behind a handful of parasites (including Toxo): https://www.ted.com/talks/ed_yong_zombie_roaches_and_other_parasite_tales?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare If you have any questions or comments you can email us at biologistsbeingbasic@gmail.com or find us on twitter or instagram (@biosbeingbasic).