Trypanosoma livingstonei: a new species from African bats supports the bat seeding hypothesis for the Trypanosoma cruzi clade

Author(s)

Lima, Luciana ^[1] ; Espinosa-Alvarez, Oneida ^[1] ; Hamilton, Patrick B. ^[2] ; Neves, Luis ^[3] ; Takata, Carmen S. A. ^[1] ; Campaner, Marta ^[1] ; Attias, Marcia ^[4] ; de Souza, Wanderley ^[4] ; Camargo, Erney P. ^[1] ; Teixeira, Marta M. G. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Dept Parasitol, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Exeter, Coll Life & Environm Sci, Exeter, Devon - England

^[3] Univ Eduardo Mondlane, Ctr Biotecnol, Maputo - Mozambique

^[4] Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, Inst Biofis Carlos Chagas Filho, Lab Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, BR-21941902 Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PARASITES & VECTORS; v. 6, AUG 3 2013.
• Web of Science Citations: 39

Abstract

Background: Bat trypanosomes have been implicated in the evolutionary history of the T. cruzi clade, which comprises species from a wide geographic and host range in South America, Africa and Europe, including bat-restricted species and the generalist agents of human American trypanosomosis T. cruzi and T. rangeli. Methods: Trypanosomes from bats (Rhinolophus landeri and Hipposideros caffer) captured in Mozambique, southeast Africa, were isolated by hemoculture. Barcoding was carried out through the V7V8 region of Small Subunit (SSU) rRNA and Fluorescent Fragment Length barcoding (FFLB). Phylogenetic inferences were based on SSU rRNA, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) and Spliced Leader (SL) genes. Morphological characterization included light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Results: New trypanosomes from bats clustered together forming a clade basal to a larger assemblage called the T. cruzi clade. Barcoding, phylogenetic analyses and genetic distances based on SSU rRNA and gGAPDH supported these trypanosomes as a new species, which we named Trypanosoma livingstonei n. sp. The large and highly polymorphic SL gene repeats of this species showed a copy of the 5S ribosomal RNA into the intergenic region. Unique morphological (large and broad blood trypomastigotes compatible to species of the subgenus Megatrypanum and cultures showing highly pleomorphic epimastigotes and long and slender trypomastigotes) and ultrastructural (cytostome and reservosomes) features and growth behaviour (when co-cultivated with HeLa cells at 37 degrees C differentiated into trypomastigotes resembling the blood forms and do not invaded the cells) complemented the description of this species. Conclusion: Phylogenetic inferences supported the hypothesis that Trypanosoma livingstonei n. sp. diverged from a common ancestral bat trypanosome that evolved exclusively in Chiroptera or switched at independent opportunities to mammals of several orders forming the clade T. cruzi, hence, providing further support for the bat seeding hypothesis to explain the origin of T. cruzi and T. rangeli. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/14985-6 - Genetic, morphological and biological diversity, phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of trypanosomes (Trypanosomatidae: Trypanosoma) from bats.
• Grantee: Luciana Lima
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral