METABOLIC COMPARTMENTATION IN AFRICAN TRYPANOSOMES

Differences between host and parasite energy metabolism are eagerly so ught after as potential targets for antiparasite chemotherapy. In Kine toplastia, the first seven steps of glycolysis are compartmented insid e glycosomes, organelles that are related to the peroxisomes of higher eukaryotes. This arrangement is unique in the living world. In this r eview, Christine Clayton and Paul Michels discuss the implications of this unusual metabolic compartmentation for the regulation of trypanos ome energy metabolism, and de scribe how an adequate supply of energy is maintained in different species and life cycle stages.