A structural analysis of the natural egress of Toxoplasma gondii.

Previous studies have analysed the process of Toxoplasma gondii egress with the aid of inducers, such as calcium ionophores. Although calcium transients have been successful in triggering T. gondii egress, the structural panorama of "natural" and artificial events should match. The present study approaches the natural egress of this parasite using super-resolution and electron microscopy and reveals lytic and non-lytic events of individual egress; this corroborates the use of calcium ionophore as a reliable tool to trigger parasite egress. Altogether, our data suggest that different signalling routes can converge to similar structural aspects in natural and induced egress.