Dataset Information

No evidence for ape Plasmodium infections in humans in Gabon.

ABSTRACT: African great apes are naturally infected by a multitude of Plasmodium species most of them recently discovered, among which several are closely related to human malaria agents. However, it is still unknown whether these animals can serve as source of infections for humans living in their vicinity. To evaluate this possibility, we analysed the nature of Plasmodium infections from a bank of 4281 human blood samples collected in 210 villages of Gabon, Central Africa. Among them, 2255 were detected positive to Plasmodium using molecular methods (Plasmodium Cytochrome b amplification). A high throughput sequencing technology (454 GS-FLX Titanium technology, Roche) was then used to identify the Plasmodium species present within each positive sample. Overall, we identified with confidence only three species infecting humans in Gabon: P. falciparum, P. malariae and P. ovale. None of the species known to infect non-human primates in Central Africa was found. Our study shows that ape Plasmodium parasites of the subgenus Laverania do not constitute a frequent source of infection for humans. It also suggests that some strong host genetic barriers must exist to prevent the cross species transmission of ape Plasmodium in a context of ever increasing contacts between humans and wildlife.

SUBMITTER: Delicat-Loembet L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4454650 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

No evidence for ape Plasmodium infections in humans in Gabon.

Délicat-Loembet Lucresse L Rougeron Virginie V Ollomo Benjamin B Arnathau Céline C Roche Benjamin B Elguero Eric E Moukodoum Nancy Diamella ND Okougha Alain-Prince AP Mve Ondo Bertrand B Boundenga Larson L Houzé Sandrine S Galan Maxime M Nkoghé Dieudonné D Leroy Eric M EM Durand Patrick P Paupy Christophe C Renaud François F Prugnolle Franck F

PloS one 20150603 6

African great apes are naturally infected by a multitude of Plasmodium species most of them recently discovered, among which several are closely related to human malaria agents. However, it is still unknown whether these animals can serve as source of infections for humans living in their vicinity. To evaluate this possibility, we analysed the nature of Plasmodium infections from a bank of 4281 human blood samples collected in 210 villages of Gabon, Central Africa. Among them, 2255 were detected ...[more]

PMID: 26039338

Similar Datasets

Project description:Plasmodium falciparum, the major cause of malaria morbidity and mortality in humans, has been shown to have emerged after cross-species transmission of one of six host-specific parasites (subgenus Laverania) infecting wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). Binding of the parasite-encoded ligand RH5 to the host protein basigin is essential for erythrocyte invasion and has been implicated in host specificity. A recent study claimed to have found two amino acid changes in RH5 that "drove the host shift leading to the emergence of P. falciparum as a human pathogen." However, the ape Laverania data available at that time, which included only a single distantly related chimpanzee parasite sequence, were inadequate to justify any such conclusion. Here, we have investigated Laverania Rh5 gene evolution using sequences from all six ape parasite species. Searching for gene-wide episodic selection across the entire Laverania phylogeny, we found eight codons to be under positive selection, including three that correspond to contact residues known to form hydrogen bonds between P. falciparum RH5 and human basigin. One of these sites (residue 197) has changed subsequent to the transmission from apes to humans that gave rise to P. falciparum, suggesting a possible role in the adaptation of the gorilla parasite to the human host. We also found evidence that the patterns of nucleotide polymorphisms in P. falciparum are not typical of Laverania species and likely reflect the recent demographic history of the human parasite.IMPORTANCE A number of closely related, host-specific malaria parasites infecting wild chimpanzees and gorillas have recently been described. The most important cause of human malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, is now known to have resulted from a cross-species transmission of one of the gorilla parasites. Overcoming species-specific interactions between a parasite ligand, RH5, and its receptor on host cells, basigin, was likely an important step in the origin of the human parasite. We have investigated the evolution of the Rh5 gene and found evidence of adaptive changes during the diversification of the ape parasite species at sites that are known to form bonds with human basigin. One of these changes occurred at the origin of P. falciparum, implicating it as an important adaptation to the human host.

Dataset Information

No evidence for ape Plasmodium infections in humans in Gabon.

Publications

No evidence for ape Plasmodium infections in humans in Gabon.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets