Biology Department/Institute of Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (iGEM), Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122-1801, USA.
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell, OH 43065, USA.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2022 Sep;174:107551. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107551. Epub 2022 Jun 8.
Among the primate malaria parasites, those found in lemurs have been neglected. Here, six Plasmodium lineages were detected in 169 lemurs. Nearly complete mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA, ≈6Kb) and apicoplast loci (≈6Kb) were obtained from these parasites and other Haemosporida species. Plasmodium spp. in lemurs are a diverse clade that shares a common ancestor with other primate parasites from continental Africa. Time-trees for the mtDNA were estimated under different scenarios, and the origin of the lemur clade coincides with the proposed time of their host species' most recent common ancestor (Lemuridae-Indriidae). A time tree with fewer taxa was estimated with mtDNA + Apicoplast loci. Those time estimates overlapped but were younger and had narrower credibility intervals than those from mtDNA alone. Importantly, the mtDNA + Apicoplast estimates that the clade including the most lethal malaria parasite in humans, Plasmodium falciparum, may have originated with Homininae (African apes). Finally, the phylogenetic congruence of the lemurs and their parasites was explored. A statistically significant scenario identified four cospeciation, two duplications, four transfer (host-switches), and zero loss events. Thus, the parasite species sampled in lemurs seem to be radiating with their hosts.
在灵长类疟原虫中，那些在狐猴中发现的疟原虫一直被忽视。在这里，从 169 只狐猴中检测到了六种疟原虫谱系。从这些寄生虫和其他血孢子虫物种中获得了几乎完整的线粒体基因组（mtDNA，约 6Kb）和质体基因组（约 6Kb）。狐猴中的疟原虫是一个多样化的分支，与来自非洲大陆的其他灵长类寄生虫有共同的祖先。在不同的情景下，对 mtDNA 的时间树进行了估计，狐猴分支的起源与它们宿主物种最近共同祖先（狐猴科-Indriidae）的提出时间相吻合。用 mtDNA+质体基因组估计了一个包含较少分类群的时间树。这些时间估计值重叠，但比仅用 mtDNA 估计的值更年轻，可信度区间更窄。重要的是，mtDNA+质体基因组的估计表明，包括人类最致命疟原虫疟原虫 falciparum 的分支可能起源于人科（非洲猿）。最后，探索了狐猴及其寄生虫的系统发育一致性。一个具有统计学意义的情景确定了四个共进化、两个复制、四个转移（宿主转换）和零个丢失事件。因此，在狐猴中采样的寄生虫物种似乎与它们的宿主一起辐射。
