Question

Scientists can now also distinguish the abundance of trypanosomes recognized specifically by antibodies type A and type B. How would incorporating such information change your graph?

Short answer

Scientists can tell the difference between trypanosomes recognized by antibody A and trypanosomes recognized by antibody B, and they can count how many of each type of trypanosome are there.

Antibody A should detect the most trypanosomes on day 8, whereas antibody B should detect the most trypanosomes on day 14.

Step-by-step solution

Trypanosomes

Trypanosomes, which are eukaryotic flagellates that induce nagana in cattle, cause sleeping sickness. Trypanosomiasis is a disease caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus Trypanosoma invertebrates.

Other trypanosome species are responsible for cattle diseases.

About the experiment

Two data sets were analyzed in this exercise to test hypotheses regarding the benefits of the trypanosome's ever-shifting surface glycoproteins and the host's immunological response. This was to study how the immune system reacts to a new pathogen.

The change in the graph.

Considering that antibody A levels increased around day 6, trypanosomes likely began expressing glycoprotein A on their surfaces at about that time. As the antibodies began to work, trypanosome numbers peaked around day 8 and began to decline.

Similar logic applies to the trypanosomes identified by antibody B. After antibody B levels began to rise, their abundance increased shortly.