Single-cell survey of feline small intestinal villus post Toxoplasma gondii infection

Felids play important roles in the life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii, and sexual reproduction of T. gondii only occurs in the enterocytes of feline small intestine. Although the transcriptomes of feline small intestine infected by T. gondii have been studied, these studies were based on bulk RNA and cannot reveal the real interplay among T. gondii, enterocytes and the other intestinal cells at a high resolution. In addition, the fertilization site of germ cells of T. gondii remains unclear. In the present study, single-cell RNA sequencing was applied to investigate the microenvironment of feline small intestine post T. gondii infection.