Chemotactic Behaviour of <i>giardia Lamblia</i> and <i>trichomonas Vaginalis</i> Towards Nutrient Sources

Chemotaxis is the phenomenon of sensing external concentration gradients by cells and the cellular movement towards or away from the cells. While there have been intensive studies on prokaryotes, little research has been conducted on the chemotaxis in flagellated eukaryotes, such as Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia) and Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis). The current study uses a 2-chamber assay to discuss the motility of G. lamblia and T. vaginalis towards simple sugars. The cells were observed moving towards the sugars in a concentration and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, the cell movements were independent of change in osmolarity. Experiments compared the motility of the parasites grown in TYI-S-33 medium and TYI-S-33 medium without glucose (starvation media). It was noted that the starved cells showed a better chemotactic response towards the carbohydrates than the non-starved cells.