This web page was produced as an assignment for an undergraduate course at Davidson College.

Trypanosoma brucei mitotic division cycle

The mitotic division of T.brucei is unusual in terms of the cytoskeletal process. The basal body, unlike a centrosome of most eukaryotic cells, plays an important role in the organisation of the spindle.

Stages of mitosis:

1. The basal body replicates, both remaining associated with the kinetoplast.
2. The kinetoplast undergoes replication, and the daughter kinetoplasts are separated by the basal bodies.
3. The second flagellum grows while the nucleus undergoes replication.
4. The mitochondria divides, and cytokinesis progresses from the anterior to posterior end.
5. The division resolves. The daughter cells may stay connected for a significant length of time after cytokinesis is complete.