Metronidazole induces gametocytogenesis in gregarine associations maintained in vitro

Gametocytogenesis was induced in mature associations of Protomagalhaensia wolfi and Protomagalhaensia blaberae maintained in vitro by inclusion of metronidazole in the culture medium. The response was neither strictly dosage dependent nor uniform across gregarine species. We hypothesize that metronidazole induces gregarine gametocytogenesis by disrupting PUF2 proteins responsible for the translational control of sexual development and gametocytogenesis in apicomplexans.