Given the absence of TDH in humans and the importance of threonine for the differentiation of totipotent cells, we sought to investigate the relevance of threonine catabolism for T. cruzi growth and to assess whether T. cruzi TDH (TcTDH) could be explored as a potential target in future drug discovery initiatives against Chagas disease. The gene discussed is TDH; the disease is Chagas disease.