In the kinetoplastid Leishmania spp. and T. cruzi, CER acquires a phosphorylinositol head group from phosphatidylinositol (PI) to produce IPC via IPC synthase (Zhang et al. 2005; Denny et al. 2006; Mina et al. 2010), although there are some reports of SM in T. cruzi (Quiñones et al. 2004) (Fig. 2). Whilst Leishmania encodes a single copy IPC synthase, T. cruzi has two highly related copies (Denny et al. 2006). Further divergence, and possible redundancy, is encountered in T. Brucei, which harbours 4 genes that encode SLSs (Denny et al. 2006; Sutterwala et al. 2008). This enzyme portfolio results in a diverse profile of the complex SL species (SM, IPC and ethanolamine phosophorylceramide [EPC]) which are developmentally regulated during the life cycle of the parasite (Sutterwala et al. 2008).