Diplomonad Cytoskeletons

[cindi.schwartz]

Hi all,

I thought I'd try this out and see if anyone bites . . .

I've been thinking about things since the meeting in LA. I've always heard that Giardia was the only species that had microribbons. It made me wonder about the other parasitic diplomonads. For example, the species (S. salmonicida and S. vortens) that infect fish. Do they have any specialized cytoskeletal elements? Do they have arrays of microtubules, but no microribbons? How do they resist peristaltic flow? Do fish have peristaltic flow like mammals, or is it different? I was just curious and wondered if anyone knew.

Thanks and hope to see you again at another meeting!

Cindi Schwartz

CU Boulder