Zoite migration during infection: parasite adaptation to host defences

The apicomplexan parasite Eimeria tenella has evolved a number of strategies for migration into different compartments of the intestinal tissue during its life cycle. These migration events are associated intricately with pathogenesis and are currently of great interest to coccidiologists. Using evidence from in vivo studies and recent work on the dynamics of gut cell turnover, Peter Daszak suggests that E. tenella zoite migration might be viewed as parasite evolutionary adaptation to evade the host innate immune responses (resistance) and deal with the complex, dynamic nature of gut epithelial tissue.