Leishmania and Sandflies: interactions in the life cycle and transmission.

Leishmania infections in the vector sandfly are limited to the gut, where contact with tissues, secretions and the medium of sandfly food influence their cycle of development The parasites cope with and exploit their habitat by generating products that impair the function and damage the tissues of the gut In this review, Yosef Schlein concentrates on some of the recent advances in the limited knowledge of these parasite-vector interactions.