Microsporidia: evolution, infection mechanisms and host impact.

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites with the smallest known eukaryotic genomes, capable of infecting most animals, and their infection mechanisms are increasingly understood.

• Why it matters: Understanding microsporidia is crucial because their impact on human health and agriculture has only recently become clear, highlighting a significant gap in knowledge about these understudied fungi-like parasites.
• What they did: The review summarizes advances in genomics, revealing the effects of genome reduction, and describes the unique polar tube structure used for host cell invasion, based on recent mechanistic studies.
• The result: These insights enable improved detection and treatment strategies, and shed light on host immune responses, advancing our ability to manage microsporidia infections across diverse hosts.