A unique Toxoplasma gondii haplotype accompanied the global expansion of cats

Lokman Galal (), Frédéric Ariey, Meriadeg Ar Gouilh, Marie-Laure Dardé, Azra Hamidović, Franck Letourneur, Franck Prugnolle and Aurélien Mercier ()
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Lokman Galal: Inserm U1094, IRD U270, Univ. Limoges, CHU Limoges, EpiMaCT—Epidemiology of chronic diseases in tropical zone, Institute of Epidemiology and Tropical Neurology, OmegaHealth
Frédéric Ariey: Université de Paris, Institut Cochin, Inserm U1016, Service de Parasitologie Hôpital Cochin
Meriadeg Ar Gouilh: DYNAMICURE U1311 INSERM, Université de Caen Normandie, UNICAEN, UNIROUEN
Marie-Laure Dardé: Inserm U1094, IRD U270, Univ. Limoges, CHU Limoges, EpiMaCT—Epidemiology of chronic diseases in tropical zone, Institute of Epidemiology and Tropical Neurology, OmegaHealth
Azra Hamidović: Inserm U1094, IRD U270, Univ. Limoges, CHU Limoges, EpiMaCT—Epidemiology of chronic diseases in tropical zone, Institute of Epidemiology and Tropical Neurology, OmegaHealth
Franck Letourneur: Plate-Forme Séquençage et Génomique, Institut Cochin, Inserm U1016, Université de Paris
Franck Prugnolle: IRL REHABS, International Research Laboratory REHABS, CNRS-NMU-UCBL, Nelson Mandela University George Campus
Aurélien Mercier: Inserm U1094, IRD U270, Univ. Limoges, CHU Limoges, EpiMaCT—Epidemiology of chronic diseases in tropical zone, Institute of Epidemiology and Tropical Neurology, OmegaHealth

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Toxoplasma gondii is a cyst-forming apicomplexan parasite of virtually all warm-blooded species, with all true cats (Felidae) as definitive hosts. It is the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis, a disease causing substantial public health burden worldwide. Few intercontinental clonal lineages represent the large majority of isolates worldwide. Little is known about the evolutionary forces driving the success of these lineages, the timing and the mechanisms of their global dispersal. In this study, we analyse a set of 156 genomes and we provide estimates of T. gondii mutation rate and generation time. We elucidate how the evolution of T. gondii populations is intimately linked to the major events that have punctuated the recent history of cats. We show that a unique haplotype, whose length represents only 0.16% of the whole T. gondii genome, is common to all intercontinental lineages and hybrid populations derived from these lineages. This haplotype has accompanied wildcats (Felis silvestris) during their emergence from the wild to domestic settlements, their dispersal in the Old World, and their expansion in the last five centuries to the Americas. The selection of this haplotype is most parsimoniously explained by its role in sexual reproduction of T. gondii in domestic cats.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33556-7

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