The Tsetse Flies� Intestinal Microflora: A Review

The Tsetse Flies’ Intestinal Microflora: A Review

Human African Trypanosomiasis is caused by trypanosomes transmitted to humans by the tsetse fly, in which they accomplish their development into their infective metacyclic form. The crucial step in trypanosome survival occurs when it invades the fly midgut where the parasite may be confronted with other bacterial gut inhabitants. The resulting interactions between the bacterial communities and the trypanosome, ingested by the fly taking a blood meal on a trypanosomeinfected host, may determine the evolvement either toward parasite establishment and the initiation of the biological cycle or its elimination. This alternative future of the trypanosome may at least partly depend on the gut microflora composition. The available data are presented in this mini-review.