Trichomonads across space and time: multidisciplinary perspectives on a fascinating and ubiquitous group of microbial eukaryotes of medical, veterinary, and environmental importance.
This collection brings together reviews, mini-reviews and original research articles, relating to species historically grouped under the generic name trichomonads. The collection neatly overlaps with the 7th International Conference on Anaerobic Protists in Auckland (August 2024), the primary conference for researchers working on trichomonads.
In addition to the strong medical and veterinary interests in studying human and farmed animal pathogens, trichomonads also represent important model systems to study the diversity and evolution of eukaryotic cells and genomes. The increased appreciation of the zoonotic potential of trichomonads should also further stimulate comparative studies across human and animal infecting trichomonads. Trichomonas species, which are broadly distributed among columbiform birds, are also important human pathogens that can contribute to chronic inflammatory conditions in the urogenital tract (vaginitis, cervicitis and urethritis) and the oral cavity (periodontitis). Dissecting the molecular and cellular basis of the damaging inflammations induced by trichomonads have highlighted the importance and complexity of the interplay between microbial eukaryotes, bacterial members of the microbiota and viruses in modulating inflammations at mucosal surfaces. Hence trichomonads represent an important resource to help dissect through comparative studies the complex role of host–microbiota interactions in humans and animals, in both health and disease.
From an environmental perspective, cases of transfers of Trichomonas from pigeons to passerines, and other birds, with dramatic passerine population decline associated with such infections, have highlighted the ecological importance of trichomonads. Based on these considerations this collection will be of great interest to medical and veterinarian clinicians, microbiologists, molecular cell biologists, evolutionary biologists, and environmental scientists/ecologists.
The collection is now open for new submissions from all researchers working in the area.
Editors: Robert P. Hirt (Newcastle University, UK) and Ivana Bilic (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria)
Status: Open for submissions
Submission link: Journal of Medical Microbiology
Image shows SEM image illustrating Trichomonas vaginalis interacting with a yeast cell. Courtesy of Prof. Marlene Benchimol (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).