Pneumocystis Molecular Phylogeny: A Way to Understand Both Pneumocystosis Natural History and Host Taxonomy

Chabé, Magali; Hugot, Jean‐Pierre; Dei‐Cas, Eduardo

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2114-2_8

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 156 publications

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“…The first description of PCP was described in cohorts of malnourished or premature infants by Vanek and Jirovec in the 1950’s 22 , 23 , initially establishing it mainly as a pediatric infection, which is not the case anymore. Overall, the pathology of Pneumocystis has been studied in animal models with animal-specific Pneumocystis species, with many findings secondarily translated into human pathology 24 . In humans, genotyping of P. jirovecii is the main tool used to assess and study the epidemiology and the natural history of P. jirovecii infection with a specific focus on transmission 25 .…”

Section: Pathophysiology Of Pneumocystis Jirovecmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hypothesis of an environmental reservoir of Pneumocystis has been investigated and is considered as very unlikely 24 , 26 . On the contrary, the transmission of Pneumocystis has long been understood to be between individuals via air from experiments performed in immunocompromised rats or nude mice 27 , 28 with Pneumocystis DNA detected in the surrounding air of infected immunosuppressed or immunocompetent animals 29 – 31 .…”

Section: Pathophysiology Of Pneumocystis Jirovecmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pneumocystis jirovecii detection in asymptomatic patients: what does its natural history tell us?

Alanio

Bretagne

2017

F1000Res

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Pneumocystis jirovecii is an unusual ascomycetous fungus that can be detected in the lungs of healthy individuals. Transmission from human to human is one of its main characteristics in comparison with other fungi responsible for invasive infections. P. jirovecii is transmitted through the air between healthy individuals, who are considered to be the natural reservoir, at least transiently. In immunocompromised patients, P. jirovecii multiplies, leading to subacute infections and acute life-threatening pneumonia, called Pneumocystis pneumonia [PCP]. PCP is caused by genotypically distinct mixtures of organisms in more than 90% of cases, reinforcing the hypothesis that there is constant inhalation of P. jirovecii from different contacts over time, although reactivation of latent organisms from previous exposures may be possible. Detection of P. jirovecii DNA without any symptoms or related radiological signs has been called “colonization”. This situation could be considered as the result of recent exposure to P. jirovecii that could evolve towards PCP, raising the issue of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for at-risk quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-positive immunocompromised patients. The more accurate way to diagnose PCP is the use of real-time quantitative PCR, which prevents amplicon contamination and allows determination of the fungal load that is mandatory to interpret the qPCR results and manage the patient appropriately. The detection of P. jirovecii in respiratory samples of immunocompromised patients should be considered for potential risk of developing PCP. Many challenges still need to be addressed, including a better description of transmission, characterization of organisms present at low level, and prevention of environmental exposure during immunodepression.

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Section: Pathophysiology Of Pneumocystis Jirovecmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pathophysiology Of Pneumocystis Jirovecmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pneumocystis jirovecii detection in asymptomatic patients: what does its natural history tell us?

Alanio

Bretagne

2017

F1000Res

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“…We identified all articles in which wild, domestic, or captive animals were tested for the presence of Pneumocystis colonization in the lungs through any method, including histology and genetic testing such as PCR amplification. Findings were cross-referenced with Chabé et al 2012 [ 52 ], which reported all positive findings of Pneumocystis from mammals prior to 2012. Additionally, we searched GenBank for all genetic sequences associated with Pneumocystis prior to 14 May 2020 and identified sequences from mammal hosts that had been screened for Pneumocystis but not yet included in any publication.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Species Boundaries and Assessing Undescribed Diversity in Pneumocystis, an Obligate Lung Symbiont

Babb-Biernacki

Esselstyn

Doyle

2022

JoF

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Far more biodiversity exists in Fungi than has been described, or could be described in several lifetimes, given current rates of species discovery. Although this problem is widespread taxonomically, our knowledge of animal-associated fungi is especially lacking. Fungi in the genus Pneumocystis are obligate inhabitants of mammal lungs, and they have been detected in a phylogenetically diverse array of species representing many major mammal lineages. The hypothesis that Pneumocystis cospeciate with their mammalian hosts suggests that thousands of Pneumocystis species may exist, potentially equal to the number of mammal species. However, only six species have been described, and the true correspondence of Pneumocystis diversity to host species boundaries is unclear. Here, we use molecular species delimitation to estimate the boundaries of Pneumocystis species sampled from 55 mammal species representing eight orders. Our results suggest that Pneumocystis species often colonize several closely related mammals, especially those in the same genus. Using the newly estimated ratio of fungal to host diversity, we estimate ≈4600 to 6250 Pneumocystis species inhabit the 6495 currently recognized extant mammal species. Additionally, we review the literature and find that only 240 (~3.7%) mammal species have been screened for Pneumocystis, and many detected Pneumocystis lineages are not represented by any genetic data. Although crude, our findings challenge the dominant perspective of strict specificity of Pneumocystis to their mammal hosts and highlight an abundance of undescribed diversity.

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Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia: Role of β-D-Glucan Detection and PCR

Alanio

Bretagne

2014

Curr Fungal Infect Rep

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Pneumocystis Molecular Phylogeny: A Way to Understand Both Pneumocystosis Natural History and Host Taxonomy

Cited by 4 publications

References 156 publications

Pneumocystis jirovecii detection in asymptomatic patients: what does its natural history tell us?

Pneumocystis jirovecii detection in asymptomatic patients: what does its natural history tell us?

Predicting Species Boundaries and Assessing Undescribed Diversity in Pneumocystis, an Obligate Lung Symbiont

Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia: Role of β-D-Glucan Detection and PCR

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