A high-throughput protein tagging toolkit that retains endogenous UTRs for studying gene regulation in Kinetoplastids.

Kinetoplastid parasites cause diseases that threaten human and animal health. To survive transitions between vertebrate hosts and insect vectors, these parasites rely on precise regulation of gene expression to adapt to environmental changes. Since gene regulation in Kinetoplastids is primarily post-transcriptional, developing efficient genetic tools for modifying genes at their endogenous loci while preserving regulatory mRNA elements is crucial for studying their complex biology.

Cellular barcoding of protozoan pathogens reveals the within-host population dynamics of host colonization.

Cellular barcoding techniques are powerful tools to understand microbial pathogenesis. However, barcoding strategies have not been broadly applied to protozoan parasites, which have unique genomic structures and virulence strategies compared with viral and bacterial pathogens. Here, we present a CRISPR-based method to barcode protozoa, which we successfully apply to and .

Novel aspects of iron homeostasis in pathogenic bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei.

Iron is an essential regulatory signal for virulence factors in many pathogens. Mammals and bloodstream form (BSF) Trypanosoma brucei obtain iron by receptor-mediated endocytosis of transferrin bound to receptors (TfR) but the mechanisms by which T. brucei subsequently handles iron remains enigmatic.