Fig. 2
Predicted life-cycle of Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) trinaperronei n. sp. in its host Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer), and its putative vector the deer ked Lipoptena mazamae inferred from: early haemocultures showing long and slender trypomastigotes (a–c) and epimastigotes (d–g), both forms with noticeable undulant membrane; co-cultures with Hi-5 insect cells exhibiting clumps of small forms adhered to the insect cells (h, i) giving origin to rosettes of epimastigotes (j). Morphology and development of T. trinaperronei n. sp. co-cultivated with Hi-5 (25 °C) and LLCMK2 mammalian (37 °C), from log- to stationary cultures, are detailed in the Figs. 7 and 8. Deer keds become infected by T. trinaperronei n. sp. feeding on deer containing blood trypomastigotes resembling those present in early haemocultures (a-c), which, in their digestive tract, transform and multiply as small forms attached to the cells of the gut wall, as observed in Hi-5 cells (h, i), give origin to rosettes of epimastigotes (j) that multiply and, later, differentiate into metacyclic trypomastigotes. Illustration of T. trinaperronei n. sp. metacyclogenesis in insect cultures are shown in the Fig. 7. Most likely, infective metacyclic trypomastigotes present in the faeces of the vectors are transmitted to WTD by deer keds bite wound or mucosa, thus reaching the bloodstream and transforming into trypomastigotes resembling those detected in early haemocultures (a). Abbreviations: WTD, white-tailed deer