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Evolutionary history of Leishmania killicki (synonymous Leishmania tropica) and taxonomic implications.

ABSTRACT: The taxonomic status of Leishmania (L.) killicki, a parasite that causes chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis, is not well defined yet. Indeed, some researchers suggested that this taxon could be included in the L. tropica complex, whereas others considered it as a distinct phylogenetic complex. To try to solve this taxonomic issue we carried out a detailed study on the evolutionary history of L. killicki relative to L. tropica.Thirty-five L. killicki and 25?L. tropica strains isolated from humans and originating from several countries were characterized using the MultiLocus Enzyme Electrophoresis (MLEE) and the MultiLocus Sequence Typing (MLST) approaches.The results of the genetic and phylogenetic analyses strongly support the hypothesis that L. killicki belongs to the L. tropica complex. Our data suggest that L. killicki emerged from a single founder event and that it evolved independently from L. tropica. However, they do not validate the hypothesis that L. killicki is a distinct complex. Therefore, we suggest naming this taxon L. killicki (synonymous L. tropica) until further epidemiological and phylogenetic studies justify the L. killicki denomination.This study provides taxonomic and phylogenetic information on L. killicki and improves our knowledge on the evolutionary history of this taxon.

SUBMITTER: Chaara D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4387592 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evolutionary history of Leishmania killicki (synonymous Leishmania tropica) and taxonomic implications.

Chaara Dhekra D Ravel Christophe C Bañuls Anne- Laure A Haouas Najoua N Lami Patrick P Talignani Loïc L El Baidouri Fouad F Jaouadi Kaouther K Harrat Zoubir Z Dedet Jean-Pierre JP Babba Hamouda H Pratlong Francine F

Parasites & vectors 20150401

<h4>Background</h4>The taxonomic status of Leishmania (L.) killicki, a parasite that causes chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis, is not well defined yet. Indeed, some researchers suggested that this taxon could be included in the L. tropica complex, whereas others considered it as a distinct phylogenetic complex. To try to solve this taxonomic issue we carried out a detailed study on the evolutionary history of L. killicki relative to L. tropica.<h4>Methods</h4>Thirty-five L. killicki and 25 L. trop ...[more]

PMID: 25889939

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Project description:BackgroundInfection and clinical disease associated with Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica, two common agents of human cutaneous leishmaniosis, have rarely been reported in dogs. This study describes dogs infected with these Leishmania spp. prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa, and compares the serological response of dogs infected with Leishmania infantum, L. major or L. tropica to whole promastigote antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of each species and to rK39 dipstick.ResultsLeishmania major infection in a 5-month-old male dog was associated with alopecic and ulcerative periocular and limb skin lesions which responded to allopurinol treatment. Infection was detected by skin and blood polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and confirmed by DNA sequencing but the dog was seronegative. Leishmania tropica infection was detected in a 3-month-old female dog co-infected with Babesia vogeli and Anaplasma platys and with no skin lesions. PCR and DNA sequencing of the blood and parasite culture were positive for L. tropica. Sera from 11 dogs infected with L. infantum, L. major or L. tropica were reactive with all three Leishmania spp. antigens except for sera from a dog with L. major infection. No significant differences were found between reactivity of dog sera to the antigen of the infecting species, or to the other Leishmania spp. antigens. Sera from dogs infected with L. infantum and L. tropica were positive with the rK39 antigen kit, while dogs with L. major infection were seronegative.ConclusionsSkin lesions in L. major infected dogs from this study and previous reports (n = 2) were ulcerative and located on the muzzle, feet and foot pads and not associated with generalized lymphadenomegaly and splenomegaly. In previous L. tropica infections, skin lesions were proliferative mucocutaneous in young dogs (n = 2), or associated with widespread dermatitis, lymphadenomegaly and splenomegaly in older dogs with similarity to L. infantum infection (n = 2). This study suggests that ELISA serology with whole promastigote antigen is not distinctive between L. infantum, L. major and L. tropica canine infections and that some L. major infections are not seropositive. PCR with DNA sequencing should be used to discriminate between canine infections with these three species.

Project description:BackgroundThree species of Leishmania cause disease in humans in Israel and are endemic in the Middle East: Leishmania infantum, Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major. These species infect dogs and cats, but little is known about their prevalence in pet populations and their clinical manifestations. A study on dog and cat Leishmania infection was conducted in a focus of human L. tropica infection in central Israel with the aim of getting insight on leishmaniosis in pets in an area where human infection is highly prevalent.MethodsBlood, demographic and clinical data were collected from dogs and cats brought for veterinary care in a focus of human L. tropica infection during 2018-2020. kDNA PCR and internal transcribed spacer1 high-resolution melt analysis PCR (ITS1 HRM PCR) with DNA sequencing were performed for the detection of Leishmania and species determination.ResultsForty-three of 189 dogs (22.8%) and 44 of 152 cats (28.9%) were positive for Leishmania spp. infection by kDNA PCR. The ITS1 HRM PCR detected six dogs (3.3%) infected with L. infantum and one (0.5%) with L. tropica, whereas six cats (3.9%) were found infected by L. infantum and five (3.3%) by L. tropica. Four of the five L. tropica-positive cats suffered from weight loss, four had azotemia, two with mild and two with severe azotemia and progressive renal disease. Three cats had gingivostomatitis; three had skin lesions with abscess and ulcers in two and scales and hair loss in another cat, which was also FIV +. This is the first report of feline L. tropica infection in Israel. Clinical information on cats with this infection from previous studies elsewhere is scarce.ConclusionsA high rate of Leishmania spp. infection, mostly estimated as sub-clinical, was found in dogs and cats admitted for veterinary care in an L. tropica focus. Among the animals in which infection could be characterized to the species level, more dogs were infected with L. infantum than with L. tropica while 5 of 11 cats were infected with L. tropica and had signs of systemic and skin disease not described before in feline L. tropica infection.

Project description:BackgroundIn the Mediterranean basin, three Leishmania species have been identified: L. infantum, L. major and L. tropica, causing zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL), zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and anthroponotic CL, respectively. Despite animal models and genomic/transcriptomic studies provided important insights, the pathogenic determinants modulating the development of VL and CL are still poorly understood. This work aimed to identify host transcriptional signatures shared by cells infected with L. infantum, L. major, and L. tropica, as well as specific transcriptional signatures elicited by parasites causing VL (i.e., L. infantum) and parasites involved in CL (i.e., L. major, L. tropica).Methodology/principal findingsU937 cells differentiated into macrophage-like cells were infected with L. infantum, L. major and L. tropica for 24h and 48h, and total RNA was extracted. RNA sequencing, performed on an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform, was used to evaluate the transcriptional signatures of infected cells with respect to non-infected cells at both time points. The EdgeR package was used to identify differentially expressed genes (fold change > 2 and FDR-adjusted p-values < 0.05). Then, functional enrichment analysis was employed to identify the enriched ontology terms in which these genes are involved. At 24h post-infection, a common signature of 463 dysregulated genes shared among all infection conditions was recognized, while at 48h post-infection the common signature was reduced to 120 genes. Aside from a common transcriptional response, we evidenced different upregulated functional pathways characterizing L. infantum-infected cells, such as VEGFA-VEGFR2 and NFE2L2-related pathways, indicating vascular remodeling and reduction of oxidative stress as potentially important factors for visceralization.ConclusionsThe identification of pathways elicited by parasites causing VL or CL could lead to new therapeutic strategies for leishmaniasis, combining the canonical anti-leishmania compounds with host-directed therapy.

Dataset Information

Evolutionary history of Leishmania killicki (synonymous Leishmania tropica) and taxonomic implications.

Publications

Evolutionary history of Leishmania killicki (synonymous Leishmania tropica) and taxonomic implications.

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