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Recent Expansion of Toxoplasma Through Enhanced Oral Transmission
C. Su,1*D. Evans,2*R. H. Cole,1J. C. Kissinger,3J. W. Ajioka,2L. D. Sibley1
The global predominance of three clonal
Toxoplasma gondii lineages suggests that they are endowed
with an exceptional traitresponsible for their current parasitism of
nearly all warm-bloodedvertebrates. Genetic polymorphism analyses
indicate that theseclonal lineages emerged within the last 10,000 years after a singlegenetic cross. Comparison with ancient strains
(~1 million years)suggests that the success of the clonal lineages
resulted fromthe concurrent acquisition of direct oral infectivity.
This keyadaptation circumvented sexual recombination, simultaneously
promotingtransmission through successive hosts, hence leading to
clonalexpansion. Thus, changes in complex life cycles can occur
rapidlyand can profoundly influence pathogenicity.
1 Department of Molecular Microbiology,
Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
2 Department of Pathology, Cambridge University,
Cambridge, CB2 1QP, UK.
3 Department of Genetics and
Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of
Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
*
These authors contributed equally to this work.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
sibley{at}borcim.wustl.edu
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
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Sarah K. Volkman and Daniel L. Hartl (17 January 2003) Science299 (5605), 353.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1081278] |Summary »|Full Text »|PDF »
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