A Single Transcription Factor Drives Toxoplasma gondii Differentiation

Abstract

Microbes that cause persistent infections (e.g., herpes viruses) do so by switching from fast-growing lytic states to slow-growing latent states. Waldman et al. have identified a single transcription factor that governs the switch between the lytic and latent forms of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that causes a persistent brain infection.