1. Comparative analysis of field-isolate and monkey-adapted Plasmodium vivax genomes
- Author
-
Peter A. Zimmerman, John W. Barnwell, David Serre, and Ernest R. Chan
- Subjects
lcsh:Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine ,Sequence analysis ,lcsh:RC955-962 ,Plasmodium vivax ,Genomics ,Plasmodium ,Genome ,Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ,Host-Parasite Interactions ,parasitic diseases ,Malaria, Vivax ,Animals ,Humans ,Cloning ,Genetics ,Whole genome sequencing ,biology ,Base Sequence ,lcsh:Public aspects of medicine ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,lcsh:RA1-1270 ,Haplorhini ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,biology.organism_classification ,Adaptation, Physiological ,3. Good health ,Infectious Diseases ,Adaptation ,Genome, Protozoan ,Research Article - Abstract
Significant insights into the biology of Plasmodium vivax have been gained from the ability to successfully adapt human infections to non-human primates. P. vivax strains grown in monkeys serve as a renewable source of parasites for in vitro and ex vivo experimental studies and functional assays, or for studying in vivo the relapse characteristics, mosquito species compatibilities, drug susceptibility profiles or immune responses towards potential vaccine candidates. Despite the importance of these studies, little is known as to how adaptation to a different host species may influence the genome of P. vivax. In addition, it is unclear whether these monkey-adapted strains consist of a single clonal population of parasites or if they retain the multiclonal complexity commonly observed in field isolates. Here we compare the genome sequences of seven P. vivax strains adapted to New World monkeys with those of six human clinical isolates collected directly in the field. We show that the adaptation of P. vivax parasites to monkey hosts, and their subsequent propagation, did not result in significant modifications of their genome sequence and that these monkey-adapted strains recapitulate the genomic diversity of field isolates. Our analyses also reveal that these strains are not always genetically homogeneous and should be analyzed cautiously. Overall, our study provides a framework to better leverage this important research material and fully utilize this resource for improving our understanding of P. vivax biology., Author Summary In this study we compare the genome sequences of Plasmodium vivax collected directly from patients with those of parasites propagated in laboratory monkeys. We show that the adaptation and continuous propagation of Plasmodium vivax in monkeys does not induce systematic changes in the genome and, therefore, that these parasites constitute an unbiased resource for studying this important pathogen. Our analyses also reveal that some monkey-adapted Plasmodium vivax strains are not genetically homogenous and retain multiple genetically different parasites present in the original patient infection. Overall, our study confirms the utility of monkey-adapted Plasmodium vivax strains for malaria research but also shows that this resource should be analyzed cautiously as different samples of the same strain might provide different biological material.
- Published
- 2015