Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Química, Departamento de Bioquímica, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Parasitologia, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2022 May 6;117:e210193. doi: 10.1590/0074-02760210193. eCollection 2022.
Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease (ChD), exhibits remarkable biological and genetic diversity, along with eco-epidemiological complexity. In order to facilitate communication among researchers aiming at the characterisation of biological and epidemiological aspects of T. cruzi, parasite isolates and strains were partitioned into seven discrete typing units (DTUs), TcI-TcVI and TcBat, identifiable by reproducible genotyping protocols. Here we present the potential origin of the genetic diversity of T. cruzi and summarise knowledge about eco-epidemiological associations of DTUs with mammalian reservoirs and vectors. Circumstantial evidence of a connection between T. cruzi genotype and ChD manifestations is also discussed emphasising the role of the host's immune response in clinical ChD progression. We describe genomic aspects of DTUs focusing on polymorphisms in multigene families encoding surface antigens that play essential functions for parasite survival both in the insect vector and the mammalian host. Such antigens most probably contributed to the parasite success in establishing infections in different hosts and exploring several niches. Gaps in the current knowledge and challenges for future research are pointed out.
克氏锥虫，恰加斯病（ChD）的病原体，具有显著的生物学和遗传多样性，以及生态流行病学的复杂性。为了促进旨在描述克氏锥虫生物学和流行病学方面特征的研究人员之间的交流，寄生虫分离株和菌株被分为七个离散的分型单元（DTU），TcI-TcVI 和 TcBat，可通过可重复的基因分型方案进行识别。在这里，我们介绍了克氏锥虫遗传多样性的潜在起源，并总结了关于 DTU 与哺乳动物宿主和媒介的生态流行病学关联的知识。还讨论了克氏锥虫基因型与 ChD 表现之间的联系的间接证据，强调了宿主免疫反应在临床 ChD 进展中的作用。我们描述了 DTU 的基因组方面，重点介绍了多基因家族中的多态性，这些多基因家族编码表面抗原，对寄生虫在昆虫媒介和哺乳动物宿主中的生存起着至关重要的作用。这些抗原很可能有助于寄生虫在不同宿主中成功建立感染，并在多个小生境中进行探索。指出了当前知识的空白和未来研究的挑战。
