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Ubiquitous Hepatocystis infections, but no evidence of Plasmodium falciparum-like malaria parasites in wild greater spot-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans).

ABSTRACT: Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) have been identified as the natural reservoir of the parasites that were the immediate precursor of Plasmodium falciparum infecting humans. Recently, a P. falciparum-like sequence was reported in a sample from a captive greater spot-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), and was taken to indicate that this species may also be a natural reservoir for P. falciparum-related parasites. To test this hypothesis we screened blood samples from 292 wild C. nictitans monkeys that had been hunted for bushmeat in Cameroon. We detected Hepatocystis spp. in 49% of the samples, as well as one sequence from a clade of Plasmodium spp. previously found in birds, lizards and bats. However, none of the 292 wild C. nictitans harbored P. falciparum-like parasites.

SUBMITTER: Ayouba A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3751399 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ubiquitous Hepatocystis infections, but no evidence of Plasmodium falciparum-like malaria parasites in wild greater spot-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans).

Ayouba Ahidjo A Mouacha Fatima F Learn Gerald H GH Mpoudi-Ngole Eitel E Rayner Julian C JC Sharp Paul M PM Hahn Beatrice H BH Delaporte Eric E Peeters Martine M

International journal for parasitology 20120609 8

Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) have been identified as the natural reservoir of the parasites that were the immediate precursor of Plasmodium falciparum infecting humans. Recently, a P. falciparum-like sequence was reported in a sample from a captive greater spot-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), and was taken to indicate that this species may also be a natural reservoir for P. falciparum-related parasites. To test this hypothesis we screened blood samples from 292 wild C. nictitans mo ...[more]

PMID: 22691606

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Project description:Nearly complete sequences of simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) infecting 18 different nonhuman primate species in sub-Saharan Africa have now been reported; yet, our understanding of the origins, evolutionary history, and geographic distribution of these viruses still remains fragmentary. Here, we report the molecular characterization of a lentivirus (SIVdeb) naturally infecting De Brazza's monkeys (Cercopithecus neglectus). Complete SIVdeb genomes (9,158 and 9227 bp in length) were amplified from uncultured blood mononuclear cell DNA of two wild-caught De Brazza's monkeys from Cameroon. In addition, partial pol sequences (650 bp) were amplified from four offspring of De Brazza's monkeys originally caught in the wild in Uganda. Full-length (9068 bp) and partial pol (650 bp) SIVsyk sequences were also amplified from Sykes's monkeys (Cercopithecus albogularis) from Kenya. Analysis of these sequences identified a new SIV clade (SIVdeb), which differed from previously characterized SIVs at 40 to 50% of sites in Pol protein sequences. The viruses most closely related to SIVdeb were SIVsyk and members of the SIVgsn/SIVmus/SIVmon group of viruses infecting greater spot-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans), mustached monkeys (Cercopithecus cephus), and mona monkeys (Cercopithecus mona), respectively. In phylogenetic trees of concatenated protein sequences, SIVdeb, SIVsyk, and SIVgsn/SIVmus/SIVmon clustered together, and this relationship was highly significant in all major coding regions. Members of this virus group also shared the same number of cysteine residues in their extracellular envelope glycoprotein and a high-affinity AIP1 binding site (YPD/SL) in their p6 Gag protein, as well as a unique transactivation response element in their viral long terminal repeat; however, SIVdeb and SIVsyk, unlike SIVgsn, SIVmon, and SIVmus, did not encode a vpu gene. These data indicate that De Brazza's monkeys are naturally infected with SIVdeb, that this infection is prevalent in different areas of the species' habitat, and that geographically diverse SIVdeb strains cluster in a single virus group. The consistent clustering of SIVdeb with SIVsyk and the SIVmon/SIVmus/SIVgsn group also suggests that these viruses have evolved from a common ancestor that likely infected a Cercopithecus host in the distant past. The vpu gene appears to have been acquired by a subset of these Cercopithecus viruses after the divergence of SIVdeb and SIVsyk.

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Dataset Information

Ubiquitous Hepatocystis infections, but no evidence of Plasmodium falciparum-like malaria parasites in wild greater spot-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans).

Publications

Ubiquitous Hepatocystis infections, but no evidence of Plasmodium falciparum-like malaria parasites in wild greater spot-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans).

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