Haemolymph lectin and the maturation of trypanosome infections in tsetse.

The tsetse immune system has recently been shown to be involved in trypanosome maturation; lectin secreted in the midgut, normally responsible for preventing the establishment of midgut infections, induces established midgut trypanosomes to mature. We now show that a second lectin, present in tsetse haemolymph, is essential to complete the maturation process. Interactions between tsetse lectins and parasite surface coats probably determine trypanosome transmissibility and may be partly responsible for the distribution of trypanosomiasis in Africa.