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Trichomonas tenax

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Encyclopedia of Parasitology

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Name

Greek (trichos = tiny, thin hair; monas = simple organism and Latin (tenere = keep, hold fast).

Geographic Distribution/Epidemiology

Worldwide, especially in persons with reduced oral hygiene.

Morphology/Life Cycle

T. tenax occurs only as flagellated, vegetative stage in the oral cavity of humans reaching a length of 5–16 μm. This stage possesses four free flagella at the anterior pole and a lateral recurrent one (Fig. 1). Reproduction occurs by repeated longitudinal binary fission. They feed on bacteria, which they ingest by phagocytosis. However, they ingest also masses of glycogen from food remnants in the teeth. Mass reproduction occurs in cases, when the oral microflora has increased due to low oral hygiene. Intestinal passage is apparently not survivable for these specimens.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Diagrammatic representation of T. tenax from the human mouth

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Further Reading

  • El Sibaei MM et al (2012) Growth kinetics, antigen profiling and proteinase activity of Egyptian Trichomonas tenax isolates derived from patients having oral infections. Exp Parasitol 130:416–422

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen TJ et al (2012) Glycogen accumulation and degradation by the trichomonads Trichomonas vaginalis and T. tenax. J Eukaryot Microbiol 59:359–366

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Zoomorphologie, Zellbiologie und Parasitologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

Authors
  1. Heinz Mehlhorn
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Correspondence to Heinz Mehlhorn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Zoomorphology and Parasitology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Trichomonas tenax . In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4471-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4471-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27769-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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