TY - JOUR
T1 - Population genetics of Cryptosporidium meleagridis in humans and birds
T2 - Evidence for cross-species transmission
AU - Wang, Yuanfei
AU - Yang, Wenli
AU - Cama, Vitaliano
AU - Wang, Lin
AU - Cabrera, Lilia
AU - Ortega, Ynes
AU - Bern, Caryn
AU - Feng, Yaoyu
AU - Gilman, Robert
AU - Xiao, Lihua
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 31229005 and 31110103901 ), National Special Fund for State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, China (No. 2060204 ), National Institutes of Health, USA ( 5P01AI051976 and 5R21AI059661 ), USDA-CSREES (2001-51110-11340), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - Population genetic studies have been used to understand the transmission of pathogens in humans and animals, especially the role of zoonotic infections and evolution and dispersal of virulent subtypes. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity and population structure of Cryptosporidium meleagridis, the only known Cryptosporidium species that infects both avian and mammalian hosts and is responsible for approximately 10% of human cryptosporidiosis in some areas. A total of 62 C. meleagridis specimens from children, AIDS patients, and birds in Lima, Peru were characterised by sequence analysis of the ssrRNA gene and five minisatellite, microsatellite and polymorphic markers in chromosome 6, including the 60. kDa glycoprotein (gp60), 47. kDa glycoprotein (CP47), a serine repeat antigen (MSC6-5), retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator (RPGR) and thrombospondin protein 8 (TSP8). The multilocus sequence analysis identified concurrent infections with Cryptosporidium hominis in four AIDS patients and three children. Unique subtypes of C. meleagridis ranged from eight at the gp60 locus (gene diversity -Hd. = 0.651), three at the RPGR (Hd. = 0.556), three at the MSC6-5 locus (Hd. = 0.242), two at TSP8 (Hd. = 0.198), to one at CP47 (monomorphic), much lower than that of C. hominis in the same area. Intragenic linkage disequilibrium was strong and complete at all gene loci. Intergenic linkage disequilibrium was highly significant (P<. 0.001) for all pairs of polymorphic loci. Two major groups of subtypes were seen, with most subtypes belonging to group 1. Within group 1, there was no clear population segregation, and two of the 14 multilocus subtypes of C. meleagridis were found in both AIDS patients and birds. We believe that these results provide the first evidence of a clonal population structure of C. meleagridis and the likely occurrence of cross-species transmission of C. meleagridis between birds and humans.
AB - Population genetic studies have been used to understand the transmission of pathogens in humans and animals, especially the role of zoonotic infections and evolution and dispersal of virulent subtypes. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity and population structure of Cryptosporidium meleagridis, the only known Cryptosporidium species that infects both avian and mammalian hosts and is responsible for approximately 10% of human cryptosporidiosis in some areas. A total of 62 C. meleagridis specimens from children, AIDS patients, and birds in Lima, Peru were characterised by sequence analysis of the ssrRNA gene and five minisatellite, microsatellite and polymorphic markers in chromosome 6, including the 60. kDa glycoprotein (gp60), 47. kDa glycoprotein (CP47), a serine repeat antigen (MSC6-5), retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator (RPGR) and thrombospondin protein 8 (TSP8). The multilocus sequence analysis identified concurrent infections with Cryptosporidium hominis in four AIDS patients and three children. Unique subtypes of C. meleagridis ranged from eight at the gp60 locus (gene diversity -Hd. = 0.651), three at the RPGR (Hd. = 0.556), three at the MSC6-5 locus (Hd. = 0.242), two at TSP8 (Hd. = 0.198), to one at CP47 (monomorphic), much lower than that of C. hominis in the same area. Intragenic linkage disequilibrium was strong and complete at all gene loci. Intergenic linkage disequilibrium was highly significant (P<. 0.001) for all pairs of polymorphic loci. Two major groups of subtypes were seen, with most subtypes belonging to group 1. Within group 1, there was no clear population segregation, and two of the 14 multilocus subtypes of C. meleagridis were found in both AIDS patients and birds. We believe that these results provide the first evidence of a clonal population structure of C. meleagridis and the likely occurrence of cross-species transmission of C. meleagridis between birds and humans.
KW - Cryptosporidium meleagridis
KW - Multilocus sequence typing
KW - Population genetics
KW - Subtypes
KW - Zoonosis
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84902766127&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2014.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2014.03.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 24727090
AN - SCOPUS:84902766127
SN - 0020-7519
VL - 44
SP - 515
EP - 521
JO - International Journal for Parasitology
JF - International Journal for Parasitology
IS - 8
ER -