Meiotic sex in Chagas disease parasite Trypanosoma cruzi

Philipp Schwabl, Hideo Imamura, Frederik Broeck, Jaime A. Costales, Jalil Maiguashca-Sánchez, Michael A. Miles, Bjorn Andersson, Mario J. Grijalva and Martin S. Llewellyn ()
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Philipp Schwabl: University of Glasgow
Hideo Imamura: Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
Frederik Broeck: Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
Jaime A. Costales: Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador
Jalil Maiguashca-Sánchez: Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador
Michael A. Miles: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Bjorn Andersson: Karolinska Institutet
Mario J. Grijalva: Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador
Martin S. Llewellyn: University of Glasgow

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Genetic exchange enables parasites to rapidly transform disease phenotypes and exploit new host populations. Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasitic agent of Chagas disease and a public health concern throughout Latin America, has for decades been presumed to exchange genetic material rarely and without classic meiotic sex. We present compelling evidence from 45 genomes sequenced from southern Ecuador that T. cruzi in fact maintains truly sexual, panmictic groups that can occur alongside others that remain highly clonal after past hybridization events. These groups with divergent reproductive strategies appear genetically isolated despite possible co-occurrence in vectors and hosts. We propose biological explanations for the fine-scale disconnectivity we observe and discuss the epidemiological consequences of flexible reproductive modes. Our study reinvigorates the hunt for the site of genetic exchange in the T. cruzi life cycle, provides tools to define the genetic determinants of parasite virulence, and reforms longstanding theory on clonality in trypanosomatid parasites.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11771-z

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