TY - JOUR TI - Developmental adaptations of trypanosome motility to the tsetse fly host environments unravel a multifaceted in vivo microswimmer system AU - Schuster, Sarah AU - Krüger, Timothy AU - Subota, Ines AU - Thusek, Sina AU - Rotureau, Brice AU - Beilhack, Andreas AU - Engstler, Markus A2 - Soldati-Favre, Dominique VL - 6 PY - 2017 DA - 2017/08/15 SP - e27656 C1 - eLife 2017;6:e27656 DO - 10.7554/eLife.27656 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.27656 AB - The highly motile and versatile protozoan pathogen Trypanosoma brucei undergoes a complex life cycle in the tsetse fly. Here we introduce the host insect as an expedient model environment for microswimmer research, as it allows examination of microbial motion within a diversified, secluded and yet microscopically tractable space. During their week-long journey through the different microenvironments of the fly´s interior organs, the incessantly swimming trypanosomes cross various barriers and confined surroundings, with concurrently occurring major changes of parasite cell architecture. Multicolour light sheet fluorescence microscopy provided information about tsetse tissue topology with unprecedented resolution and allowed the first 3D analysis of the infection process. High-speed fluorescence microscopy illuminated the versatile behaviour of trypanosome developmental stages, ranging from solitary motion and near-wall swimming to collective motility in synchronised swarms and in confinement. We correlate the microenvironments and trypanosome morphologies to high-speed motility data, which paves the way for cross-disciplinary microswimmer research in a naturally evolved environment. KW - Trypanosoma KW - tsetse fly KW - microswimmer KW - sleeping sickness JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -