Transcriptional and genomic parallels between the monoxenous parasite Herpetomonas muscarum and Leishmania

by Megan A. Sloan, Karen Brooks, Thomas D. Otto, Mandy J. Sanders, James A. Cotton, Petros Ligoxygakis Trypanosomatid parasites are causative agents of important human and animal diseases such as sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis. Most trypanosomatids are transmitted to their mammalian hosts by insects, often belonging to Diptera (or true flies). These are called dixenous trypanosomatids since th ey infect two different hosts, in contrast to those that infect just insects (monoxenous). However, it is still unclear whether dixenous and monoxenous trypanosomatids interact similarly with their insect host, as fly-monoxenous trypanosomatid interaction systems are rarely reported and under-studie d–despite being common in nature. Here we present the genome of monoxenous trypanosomatidHerpetomonas muscarum and discuss its transcriptome duringin vitro culture and during infection of its natural insect hostDrosophila melanogaster. TheH.muscarum genome is broadly syntenic with that of human parasiteLeishmania major. We also found strong similarities between theH.muscarum transcriptome during fruit fly infection, and those ofLeishmania during sand fly infections. Overall this suggestsDrosophila-Herpetomonas is a suitable model for less accessible insect-trypanosomatid host-parasite systems such as sand fly-Leishmania.
Source: PLoS Genetics - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Source Type: research