{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T10:51:01Z","timestamp":1785408661108,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781049600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mBio"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Toxoplasmosis is a disease of worldwide distribution, causing high morbidity and mortality in humans, as well as heavily impacting animal health and the economy.\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic>\n                      , the causative agent, is an intracellular parasite with a complex life cycle whose completion entails asexual, pre-sexual, and sexual stage conversions. Pre-sexual and sexual differentiation take place only within the intestinal epithelium of felines. Recently, several transcriptional factors and epigenetic components crucial to trigger parasite stage transitions within the cat have been identified, allowing, through precise genetic manipulation, obtaining pre-sexual stages known as merozoites\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      . Through conditional depletion of two pre-sexual stage-specific gene silencing transcription factors, AP2XII-1 and AP2XII-2, we have characterized the interplay between cell division and the sequence of events leading up to differentiation of tachyzoites into merozoites. We explored genome duplication, assembly of daughter cells, karyokinesis, and cytokinesis, characterizing the differential cell division modes and kinetics undergone by critical structures along the differentiation axis. Building onto the pre-existing body of knowledge, primarily describing the underpinnings of these forms of division by transmission electron microscopy, our work contributes previously unexplored temporal and spatial resolution to the transitions between endodyogeny and endopolygeny, providing a conceptual framework for understanding and exploring\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">T. gondii<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2019s route of sexual differentiation.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        Sexual development in\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic>\n                        is essential for transmission, but remains poorly understood, largely because pre-sexual stages are restricted to the feline intestine and have only recently become experimentally accessible. Here, we leverage an\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                        differentiation system to resolve how parasites transition toward merozoite formation at the cellular level. By combining expansion microscopy, stage-specific markers, and quantitative analyses, we define the temporal sequence of nuclear division and daughter cell assembly during merogony, addressing longstanding ambiguity regarding division modes in these stages. Our findings reveal that parasites can adopt alternative division strategies emerging from a polyploid intermediate, highlighting an unexpected degree of flexibility in how cell division is executed during differentiation. Beyond refining this developmental framework, this work establishes a foundation for future mechanistic studies of pre-sexual biology and provides broader insight into the diversity of eukaryotic cell division strategies.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.02440-25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,19]],"date-time":"2026-05-19T13:04:21Z","timestamp":1779195861000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Proliferating toward sex: characterization of cell division of\n                    <i>Toxoplasma gondii<\/i>\n                    \u2019s pre-sexual stages"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Florencia","family":"Sena","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04dpm2z73","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Laboratory of 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