When a cell divides, its duplicated chromosomes have to be shared equally between the two daughter cells. Cells manage this feat by lining up replicated chromosomes along their equators during mitosis, and then pulling sister chromatids apart to the right destinations. But Theileria, an intracellular parasitic protozoan, also needs to divide when its host cell undergoes mitosis. Dirk Dobbelaere and colleagues at the University of Bern have now shown how Theileria hijacks the host cell’s mitotic machinery to ensure its continued survival (PLoS Biol, 8:e1000499, 2010).
Some species within the genus Theileria cause variants of theileriosis, an economically important tick-borne disease that affects cattle in the tropics and subtropics. The parasite infects white blood cells, but unlike the malaria parasite Plasmodium, to which it is closely related, Theileria dissolves the enclosing membrane soon after infection and takes up residence in the cytoplasm. It ...
