Molecular Parasitology Unit, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0425, USA.
Vet Parasitol. 2011 Nov 24;182(1):96-111. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.07.018. Epub 2011 Jul 20.
Toxoplasma gondii, a zoonotic protozoal parasite, is well-known for its global distribution and its ability to infect virtually all warm-blooded vertebrates. Nonetheless, attempts to describe the population structure of T. gondii have been primarily limited to samples isolated from humans and domesticated animals. More recent studies, however, have made efforts to characterize T. gondii isolates from a wider range of host species and geographic locales. These findings have dramatically changed our perception of the extent of genetic diversity in T. gondii and the relative roles of sexual recombination and clonal propagation in the parasite's lifecycle. In particular, identification of novel, disease-causing T. gondii strains in wildlife has raised concerns from both a conservation and public health perspective as to whether distinct domestic and sylvatic parasite gene pools exist. If so, overlap of these cycles may represent regions of high probability of disease emergence. Here, we attempt to answer these key questions by reviewing recent studies of T. gondii infections in wildlife, highlighting those which have advanced our understanding of the genetic diversity and population biology of this important zoonotic pathogen.
刚地弓形虫，一种动物源的原生动物寄生虫，以其全球分布和感染几乎所有温血脊椎动物的能力而闻名。尽管如此，对刚地弓形虫种群结构的描述尝试主要局限于从人类和驯养动物中分离出的样本。然而，最近的研究努力从更广泛的宿主物种和地理区域来描述刚地弓形虫的分离株。这些发现极大地改变了我们对刚地弓形虫遗传多样性的程度以及有性重组和无性繁殖在寄生虫生命周期中的相对作用的认识。特别是，在野生动物中鉴定出新型、致病的刚地弓形虫菌株，从保护和公共卫生的角度引发了人们的担忧，即是否存在不同的家养和森林寄生虫基因库。如果是这样，这些循环的重叠可能代表疾病出现的高概率区域。在这里，我们通过回顾野生动物中刚地弓形虫感染的最新研究来尝试回答这些关键问题，强调那些提高了我们对这种重要的人畜共患病原体遗传多样性和种群生物学理解的研究。
