Giuseppe
Emeritus
Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas (Nature, abstract, edited)
[Source: Nature, full abstract: <cite cite="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7314/full/nature09442.html">Access : Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas : Nature</cite>. Edited.]
Article
Nature 467, 420-425 (23 September 2010) | doi:10.1038/nature09442; Received 25 May 2010; Accepted 20 August 2010
Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas
Weimin Liu (1), Yingying Li (1), Gerald H. Learn (1), Rebecca S. Rudicell (2), Joel D. Robertson (1), Brandon F. Keele (1,16), Jean-Bosco N. Ndjango (3), Crickette M. Sanz (4,5), David B. Morgan (5,6), Sabrina Locatelli (7), Mary K. Gonder (7), Philip J. Kranzusch (8), Peter D. Walsh (9), Eric Delaporte (10), Eitel Mpoudi-Ngole (11), Alexander V. Georgiev (12), Martin N. Muller (13), George M. Shaw (1,2), Martine Peeters (10), Paul M. Sharp (14), Julian C. Rayner (1,15) & Beatrice H. Hahn (1,2)
1. Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA
2. Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA
3. Department of Ecology and Management of Plant and Animal Resources, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, BP 2012, Democratic Republic of the Congo
4. Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
5. Congo Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Brazzaville, BP 14537, Republic of the Congo
6. Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA
7. Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222, USA
8. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
9. VaccinApe, Bethesda, Maryland 200816, USA
10. Institut de Recherche pour le D?veloppement and University of Montpellier 1, 34394 Montpellier, France
11. Institut de Recherches M?dicales et d?Etudes des Plantes M?dicinales Pr?vention du Sida au Cameroun, Centre de Recherche M?dicale, BP 906, Yaound?, R?publique du Cameroun
12. Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
13. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
14. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
15. Sanger Institute Malaria Programme, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK
16. Present address: The AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Science Applications International Corporation-Frederick Inc., National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA.
Correspondence to: Beatrice H. Hahn (1,2) Email: bhahn@uab.edu
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent and lethal of the malaria parasites infecting humans, yet the origin and evolutionary history of this important pathogen remain controversial. Here we develop a single-genome amplification strategy to identify and characterize Plasmodium spp. DNA sequences in faecal samples from wild-living apes. Among nearly 3,000 specimens collected from field sites throughout central Africa, we found Plasmodium infection in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), but not in eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei) or bonobos (Pan paniscus). Ape plasmodial infections were highly prevalent, widely distributed and almost always made up of mixed parasite species. Analysis of more than 1,100 mitochondrial, apicoplast and nuclear gene sequences from chimpanzees and gorillas revealed that 99% grouped within one of six host-specific lineages representing distinct Plasmodium species within the subgenus Laverania. One of these from western gorillas comprised parasites that were nearly identical to P. falciparum. In phylogenetic analyses of full-length mitochondrial sequences, human P. falciparum formed a monophyletic lineage within the gorilla parasite radiation. These findings indicate that P. falciparum is of gorilla origin and not of chimpanzee, bonobo or ancient human origin.
-
-----<cite cite="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7314/full/nature09442.html"></cite>
[Source: Nature, full abstract: <cite cite="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7314/full/nature09442.html">Access : Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas : Nature</cite>. Edited.]
Article
Nature 467, 420-425 (23 September 2010) | doi:10.1038/nature09442; Received 25 May 2010; Accepted 20 August 2010
Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas
Weimin Liu (1), Yingying Li (1), Gerald H. Learn (1), Rebecca S. Rudicell (2), Joel D. Robertson (1), Brandon F. Keele (1,16), Jean-Bosco N. Ndjango (3), Crickette M. Sanz (4,5), David B. Morgan (5,6), Sabrina Locatelli (7), Mary K. Gonder (7), Philip J. Kranzusch (8), Peter D. Walsh (9), Eric Delaporte (10), Eitel Mpoudi-Ngole (11), Alexander V. Georgiev (12), Martin N. Muller (13), George M. Shaw (1,2), Martine Peeters (10), Paul M. Sharp (14), Julian C. Rayner (1,15) & Beatrice H. Hahn (1,2)
1. Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA
2. Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA
3. Department of Ecology and Management of Plant and Animal Resources, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, BP 2012, Democratic Republic of the Congo
4. Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
5. Congo Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Brazzaville, BP 14537, Republic of the Congo
6. Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA
7. Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222, USA
8. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
9. VaccinApe, Bethesda, Maryland 200816, USA
10. Institut de Recherche pour le D?veloppement and University of Montpellier 1, 34394 Montpellier, France
11. Institut de Recherches M?dicales et d?Etudes des Plantes M?dicinales Pr?vention du Sida au Cameroun, Centre de Recherche M?dicale, BP 906, Yaound?, R?publique du Cameroun
12. Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
13. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
14. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
15. Sanger Institute Malaria Programme, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK
16. Present address: The AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Science Applications International Corporation-Frederick Inc., National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA.
Correspondence to: Beatrice H. Hahn (1,2) Email: bhahn@uab.edu
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent and lethal of the malaria parasites infecting humans, yet the origin and evolutionary history of this important pathogen remain controversial. Here we develop a single-genome amplification strategy to identify and characterize Plasmodium spp. DNA sequences in faecal samples from wild-living apes. Among nearly 3,000 specimens collected from field sites throughout central Africa, we found Plasmodium infection in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), but not in eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei) or bonobos (Pan paniscus). Ape plasmodial infections were highly prevalent, widely distributed and almost always made up of mixed parasite species. Analysis of more than 1,100 mitochondrial, apicoplast and nuclear gene sequences from chimpanzees and gorillas revealed that 99% grouped within one of six host-specific lineages representing distinct Plasmodium species within the subgenus Laverania. One of these from western gorillas comprised parasites that were nearly identical to P. falciparum. In phylogenetic analyses of full-length mitochondrial sequences, human P. falciparum formed a monophyletic lineage within the gorilla parasite radiation. These findings indicate that P. falciparum is of gorilla origin and not of chimpanzee, bonobo or ancient human origin.
-
-----<cite cite="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7314/full/nature09442.html"></cite>