Asexual/sexual differentiation

It should be noted that the closely related species, M. lineatus, does not undergo asexual reproduction in either the tetrathyridium or adult stage it too, has been successfully cultured to maturity in vitro (382). The possible factors inducing asexual/sexual differentiation in both these species, and in other cestodes, is further considered in Chapter 10, where in vitro systems are reviewed. 

As well as being the causative organisms of a number of major human and animal diseases (e.g. cysticercosis, hydatidosis), cestodes serve as elegant experimental models for the study of fundamental biological phenomena. These include not only problems of specific parasitological interest, such as host-specificity, but also more basic problems such as enzyme dynamics, membrane transport and cell and tissue differentiation (especially asexual/sexual differentiation), common to many other biological fields. 

Asexual and sexual differentiation in cestodes especially Mesocestoides and Echinococcus. In Molecular paradigms for eradicating helminthic parasites, UCLA Symposium on Moleular and Cellular Biology, new series, vol. 60, ed. A. Maclnnis, pp. 19-34. Alan R. Liss Inc., New York. 

This species has a life cycle similar to that of M. corti but, unlike it, does not undergo asexual reproduction in either the larval or adult stage. The adult of this species has also been grown in vitro from the tetrathyridium, but, in this case, the induction of sexual development appears to be related to the presence and activity of trypsin, for differentiation was inhibited or decreased by the presence of soybean trypsin inhibitor (382). 

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