A short review on the morphology of Trypanosoma cruzi: from 1909 to 1999

Abstract

The morphology of Trypanosoma cruzi is reviewed since the initial description of Giemsa-stained preparations by Carlos Chagas until the most recent micrographs obtained with freeze-fracture techniques. Special emphasis is given to structures such as the cell surface, the flagellum, the kinetoplast, the reservosomes and the endocytic pathway, and the acidocalcisomes.

Keywords

• Trypanosoma cruzi
• fine structure
• cell surface
• flagellum
• kinetoplast
• reservosome
• acidocalcisome