Molecular Parasitology Unit, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20815, USA.
Int J Parasitol. 2009 Jul 1;39(8):925-33. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2009.02.005. Epub 2009 Feb 13.
The cosmopolitan parasitic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii is capable of infecting essentially any warm-blooded vertebrate worldwide, including most birds and mammals, and establishes chronic infections in one-third of the globe's human population. The success of this highly prevalent zoonosis is largely the result of its ability to propagate both sexually and clonally. Frequent genetic exchanges via sexual recombination among extant parasite lineages that mix in the definitive felid host produces new lines that emerge to expand the parasite's host range and cause outbreaks. Highly successful lines spread clonally via carnivorism and in some cases sweep to pandemic levels. The extent to which sexual reproduction versus clonal expansion shapes Toxoplasma's current, global population genetic structure is the central question this review will attempt to answer.
世界性寄生病原体刚地弓形虫能够感染全球几乎所有温血脊椎动物，包括大多数鸟类和哺乳动物，并在全球三分之一的人口中建立慢性感染。这种高度流行的人畜共患病的成功在很大程度上是由于其能够有性繁殖和无性繁殖。现存寄生虫谱系在终宿主猫科动物中混合，通过有性重组进行频繁的基因交换，产生新的谱系，从而扩大寄生虫的宿主范围并引发疫情。高度成功的谱系通过肉食主义进行无性繁殖，并在某些情况下蔓延到流行水平。有性繁殖与无性繁殖在多大程度上塑造了刚地弓形虫当前的全球种群遗传结构，这是本综述试图回答的核心问题。
