Evidence for a neotropical origin of Leishmania

Noyes, H. A.; Morrison, DA; Chance, M. L.; Ellis, John

doi:10.1590/s0074-02762000000400021

Cited by 33 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…S1 in the supplemental material for the rest). The separation of the Leishmania and Viannia groups, as well as the species complexes therein, agrees completely with the data from similar analyses of other protein-coding genes (14,27,39,44) and internal-transcribed-spacer (16) sequences.…”

Section: Fig 4 Restriction Maps Constructed To Discriminate 26 Nagtsupporting

confidence: 85%

Transmembrane Molecules for Phylogenetic Analyses of Pathogenic Protists: Leishmania -Specific Informative Sites in Hydrophilic Loops of Trans- Endoplasmic Reticulum N -Acetylglucosamine-1-Phosphate Transferase

et al. 2007

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A sequence database was created for the Leishmania N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate transferase (nagt) gene from 193 independent isolates. PCR products of this single-copy gene were analyzed for restriction fragment length polymorphism based on seven nagt sequences initially available. We subsequently sequenced 77 samples and found 19 new variants (genotypes). Alignment of all 26 nagt sequences is gap free, except for a single codon addition or deletion. Phylogenetic analyses of the sequences allow grouping the isolates into three subgenera, each consisting of recognized species complexes, i.e., subgenus Leishmania (L. amazonensis-L. mexicana, L. donovani-L. infantum, L. tropica, L. major, and L. turanica-L. gerbilli), subgenus Viannia (L. braziliensis, L. panamensis), and one unclassified (L. enriettii) species. This hierarchy of grouping is also supported by sequence analyses of selected samples for additional single-copy genes present on different chromosomes. Intraspecies divergence of nagt varies considerably with different species complexes. Interestingly, species complexes with less subspecies divergence are more widely distributed than those that are more divergent. The relevance of this to Leishmania evolutionary adaptation is discussed. Heterozygosity of subspecies variants contributes to intraspecies diversity, which is prominent in L. tropica but not in L. donovani-L. infantum. This disparity is thought to result from the genetic recombination of the respective species at different times as a rare event during their predominantly clonal evolution. Phylogenetically useful sites of nagt are restricted largely to several extended hydrophilic loops predicted from hypothetical models of Leishmania NAGT as an endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane protein. In silico analyses of nagt from fungi and other protozoa further illustrate the potential value of this and, perhaps, other similar transmembrane molecules for phylogenetic analyses of single-cell eukaryotes.Many microorganisms speciate via clonal evolution. They replicate asexually, with genetic recombination as a rare event.A typical example among single-cell eukaryotes is the trypanosomatid protozoa (58, 59), which are mostly parasites, e.g., Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma spp. Leishmania spp. live extracellularly in the digestive tracts of blood-sucking female sand flies of various species as their vectors and intracellularly in the macrophages of different mammalian hosts, i.e., human, canine, rodent, and other reservoir animals. The complexities of such unusual ecological niches undoubtedly contribute to Leishmania speciation.A large body of biological, biochemical, immunological, and molecular data (7,10,23,55) exists in the literature suggesting that the genus Leishmania consists of three groups (55) as follows: (i) subgenus Leishmania, which includes species complexes distributed in both the New World and the Old World, e.g., L. majorturanica-L. gerbilli; (ii) subgenus Viannia, whose members are restricted to the Neotropics, e.g., L. braziliensis [...

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Section: Fig 4 Restriction Maps Constructed To Discriminate 26 Nagtsupporting

confidence: 85%

Transmembrane Molecules for Phylogenetic Analyses of Pathogenic Protists: Leishmania -Specific Informative Sites in Hydrophilic Loops of Trans- Endoplasmic Reticulum N -Acetylglucosamine-1-Phosphate Transferase

et al. 2007

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“…Second, it was possible to restore amastigote-specific A2 expression to L. major, and this severely limited the ability of L. major to establish cutaneous infections in resistant or susceptible mice. L. major is closely related but appears to have diverged earlier and independently from L. donovani (17,18). Therefore these observations suggest that loss or gain of A2 expression in Old World Leishmania evolution played a significant role in determining the species-specific organ tropism in Leishmania infection.…”

mentioning

confidence: 81%

“…However, the A2 coding sequences were also detected by karyotype analyses in L. mexicana complex including L. amazonenesis and L. mexicana (11), and the A2 gene products have been detected by Western blot analysis as three larger proteins of Ͼ200 kDa in L. mexicana. 2 Species from the New World L. mexicana complex are associated with diffuse cutaneous infections, and they are phylogenetically farther from the Old World species L. donovani and L. major (17). There may therefore be significant differences in the rest of the genome that allow L. mexicana to survive in the skin despite the presence of the A2 protein.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the A2 Gene Locus in Leishmania donovani and Leishmania major and Its Control over Cutaneous Infection

Zhang

Méndez

Ghosh

et al. 2003

Journal of Biological Chemistry

101

109

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In Old World Leishmania infections, Leishmania donovani is responsible for fatal visceral leishmaniasis, and L. major is responsible for non-fatal cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans. The genetic differences between these species which govern the pathology or site of infection are not known. We have therefore carried out detailed analysis of the A2 loci in L. major and L. donovani because A2 is expressed in L. donovani but not L. major, and A2 is required for survival in visceral organs by L. donovani. We demonstrate that although L. major contains A2 gene regulatory sequences, the multiple repeats that exist in L. donovani A2 protein coding regions are absent in L. major, and the remaining corresponding A2 sequences appear to represent non-expressed pseudogenes. It was possible to restore amastigote-specific A2 expression to L. major, confirming that A2 regulatory sequences remain functional in L. major. Although L. major is a cutaneous parasite in rodents and humans, restoring A2 expression to L. major inhibited its ability to establish a cutaneous infection in susceptible BALB/c or resistant C57BL6 mice, a phenotype typical of L. donovani. There was no detectable cellular immune response against L. major after cutaneous infection with A2-expressing L. major, suggesting that the lack of growth was not attributable to acquired host resistance but to an A2-mediated suppression of parasite survival in skin macrophages. These observations argue that the lack of A2 expression in L. major contributed to its divergence from L. donovani with respect to the pathology of infection.

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“…The second theory placed the origin of Leishmania in the Neotropical region with sloths as the first vertebrate hosts. Infected porcupines and other mammals carried the infections across the Panamanian land bridge into North America and eventually across Beringia into Eurasia [63]. The presence of Paleoleishmania in Early Cretaceous Myanmar amber sand flies supports the former of these two theories.…”

Section: 3mentioning

confidence: 87%

Evolutionary History of Terrestrial Pathogens and Endoparasites as Revealed in Fossils and Subfossils

Poinar

2014

Advances in Biology

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The present work uses fossils and subfossils to decipher the origin and evolution of terrestrial pathogens and endoparasites. Fossils, as interpreted by morphology or specific features of their hosts, furnish minimum dates for the origin of infectious agents, coevolution with hosts, and geographical locations. Subfossils, those that can be C 14 dated (roughly under 50,000 years) and are identified by morphology as well as molecular and immunological techniques, provide time periods when humans became infected with various diseases. The pathogen groups surveyed include viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and select multicellular endoparasites including nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, and insect parasitoids in the terrestrial environment.

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Evidence for a neotropical origin of Leishmania

Cited by 33 publications

References 15 publications

Transmembrane Molecules for Phylogenetic Analyses of Pathogenic Protists: Leishmania -Specific Informative Sites in Hydrophilic Loops of Trans- Endoplasmic Reticulum N -Acetylglucosamine-1-Phosphate Transferase

Transmembrane Molecules for Phylogenetic Analyses of Pathogenic Protists: Leishmania -Specific Informative Sites in Hydrophilic Loops of Trans- Endoplasmic Reticulum N -Acetylglucosamine-1-Phosphate Transferase

Comparison of the A2 Gene Locus in Leishmania donovani and Leishmania major and Its Control over Cutaneous Infection

Evolutionary History of Terrestrial Pathogens and Endoparasites as Revealed in Fossils and Subfossils

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