Baker J R
Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London, England.
Parasite. 1995 Mar;2(1):3-12. doi: 10.1051/parasite/1995021003.
Trypanosoma brucei was first seen by David Bruce in 1894, in the blood of a cow in South Africa, and named in his honour in 1899. Trypanosomes seen in the blood of an Englishman in The Gambia in 1901 were named T. gambiense in 1902. Finally, in 1909, trypanosomes from the blood of an Englishman in Zambia ("Rhodesia") were named T. rhodesiense. Since then there has been continuous debate about the interrelationships of these three "species". Studies of the molecular biology of these trypanosomes, mainly analyses of their isoenzymes and deoxyribonucleic acid, now appear to have shown that T. "rhodesiense" cannot be distinguished from T. brucei brucei by any valid and consistent criterion, while T. "gambiense" probably does constitute a valid subspecies of T. brucei. There is still doubt whether populations of T. brucei are predominantly clonal or sexual. While some form of genetic exchange undoubtedly can occur in this species, its nature and frequency are unknown and there is evidence that the population structure of T. brucei is essentially clonal.
1894年，大卫·布鲁斯首次在南非一头母牛的血液中发现了布氏锥虫，并于1899年以他的名字命名。1901年在冈比亚一名英国人血液中发现的锥虫于1902年被命名为冈比亚锥虫。最后，1909年在赞比亚（当时的“罗德西亚”）一名英国人血液中的锥虫被命名为罗德西亚锥虫。从那时起，关于这三种“物种”之间的相互关系一直存在争论。对这些锥虫的分子生物学研究，主要是对它们的同工酶和脱氧核糖核酸的分析，现在似乎已经表明，“罗德西亚锥虫”无法通过任何有效且一致的标准与布氏锥虫布氏亚种区分开来，而“冈比亚锥虫”可能确实构成布氏锥虫的一个有效亚种。布氏锥虫群体主要是克隆性的还是有性的，仍然存在疑问。虽然毫无疑问在这个物种中会发生某种形式的基因交换，但其性质和频率尚不清楚，并且有证据表明布氏锥虫的群体结构基本上是克隆性的。
