ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2015
Trypanosoma cruzi, etiological agent of Chagas disease, is virulent to its triatomine vector Rhodnius prolixus in a temperature-dependent manner.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acute sublethal heat stress impairs blood feeding and trypanosome infection in the kissing bug, Rhodnius prolixus.Journal of medical entomology · 2026Article
- Temperature variability increases Trypanosoma cruzi load but not the extrinsic incubation period in Triatoma infestans.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Rhodnius prolixus impairs Trypanosoma cruzi growth through cold-seeking behavioral thermoregulation.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Potential geographic displacement of Chagas disease vectors under climate change.Medical and veterinary entomology · 2025Article
- Fate of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, in bed bugs after oral ingestion or intrathoracic injection.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- The impact of temperature on canine Chagas disease transmission risk: A modeling study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Comparative Feeding and Defecation Behaviors ofInsects · 2025Article
- Common Bed Bugs: Non-Viable Hosts forCells · 2024Article
- Effects of fasting on the interplay between temperature and Trypanosoma cruzi infection on the life cycle of the Chagas disease vector Rhodnius prolixus.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- The interplay between temperature, Trypanosoma cruzi parasite load, and nutrition: Their effects on the development and life-cycle of the Chagas disease vector Rhodnius prolixus.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- NaturalInsects · 2023Article
- Does Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas, 1909) (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) modify the antennal phenotype of Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille, 1811) (Hemiptera: Triatominae)?Parasites & vectors · 2022Article
- Higher temperatures reduce the number of Trypanosoma cruzi parasites in the vector Triatoma pallidipennis.Parasites & vectors · 2021Article
- Trypanosoma cruzi-infected Rhodnius prolixus endure increased predation facilitating parasite transmission to mammal hosts.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Thermal performance of the Chagas disease vector, Triatoma infestans, under thermal variability.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Metabolites as predictive biomarkers forComputational and structural biotechnology journal · 2021Article
- An Update on the Knowledge of Parasite-Vector Interactions of Chagas Disease.Research and reports in tropical medicine · 2021Review
- Vector competence and feeding-excretion behavior of Triatoma rubrovaria (Blanchard, 1843) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) infected with Trypanosoma cruzi TcVI.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- The Influence of Environmental Cues on the Development ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2020Review
- Alteration of the aggregation and spatial organization of the vector of Chagas disease, Triatoma infestans, by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.Scientific reports · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It is often assumed that parasites are not virulent to their vectors. Nevertheless, parasites commonly exploit their vectors (nutritionally for example) so these can be considered a form of host. Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan found in mammals and triatomine bugs in the Americas, is the etiological agent of Chagas disease that affects man and domestic animals. While it has long been considered avirulent to its vectors, a few reports have indicated that it can affect triatomine fecundity. We tested whether infection imposed a temperature-dependent cost on triatomine fitness. We held infected insects at four temperatures between 21 and 30°C and measured T. cruzi growth in vitro at the same temperatures in parallel. Trypanosoma cruzi infection caused a considerable delay in the time the insects took to moult (against a background effect of temperature accelerating moult irrespective of infection status). Trypanosoma cruzi also reduced the insects' survival, but only at the intermediate temperatures of 24 and 27°C (against a background of increased mortality with increasing temperatures). Meanwhile, in vitro growth of T. cruzi increased with temperature. Our results demonstrate virulence of a protozoan agent of human disease to its insect vector under these conditions. It is of particular note that parasite-induced mortality was greatest over the range of temperatures normally preferred by these insects, probably implying adaptation of the parasite to perform well at these temperatures. Therefore we propose that triggering this delay in moulting is adaptive for the parasites, as it will delay the next bloodmeal taken by the bug, thus allowing the parasites time to develop and reach the insect rectum in order to make transmission to a new vertebrate host possible.
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