The Origin of Malarial Parasites in Orangutans

Abstract

BackgroundRecent findings of Plasmodium in African apes have changed our perspectives on the evolution of malarial parasites in hominids. However, phylogenetic analyses of primate malarias are still missing information from Southeast Asian apes. In this study, we report molecular data for a malaria parasite lineage found in orangutans.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe screened twenty-four blood samples from Pongo pygmaeus (Kalimantan, Indonesia) for Plasmodium parasites by PCR. For all the malaria positive orangutan samples, parasite mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) and two antigens: merozoite surface protein 1 42 kDa (MSP-142) and circumsporozoite protein gene (CSP) were amplified, cloned, and sequenced. Fifteen orangutans tested positive and yielded 5 distinct mitochondrial haplotypes not previously found. The haplotypes detected exhibited low genetic divergence among them, indicating that they belong to one species. We report phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial genomes, MSP-142 and CSP. We found that the orangutan malaria parasite lineage was part of a monophyletic group that includes all the known non-human primate malaria parasites found in Southeast Asia; specifically, it shares a recent common ancestor with P. inui (a macaque parasite) and P. hylobati (a gibbon parasite) suggesting that this lineage originated as a result of a host switch. The genetic diversity of MSP-142 in orangutans seems to be under negative selection. This result is similar to previous findings in non-human primate malarias closely related to P. vivax. As has been previously observed in the other Plasmodium species found in non-human primates, the CSP shows high polymorphism in the number of repeats. However, it has clearly distinctive motifs from those previously found in other malarial parasites.ConclusionThe evidence available from Asian apes indicates that these parasites originated independently from those found in Africa, likely as the result of host switches from other non-human primates.

Evolution of the merozoite surface protein 7 ( msp7 ) family in Plasmodium vivax and P . falciparum : A comparative approach

“…Group A includes two of the three msp7 paralogs (PVX_082645 and PVX_082695) that have orthologs in all the Plasmodium species considered in this study, including rodents. The phylogenetic relationships within ortholog PVX_082695 inside Group A paralogs clade are similar to those estimated for Plasmodium species using other loci and mtDNA genomes (Muehlenbein et al, 2015; Pacheco et al 2011; Pacheco et al, 2012). Group B, considerably the largest in our phylogenetic analysis (Fig.…”

“…1), a species with a recent common ancestor shared with P. vivax, P. cynomolgi, and P. inui. (Muehlenbein et al, 2015; Pacheco et al, 2012). Although 10 paralogs found in P. vivax and P. cynomolgi are shared with P. fieldi , it cannot be ascertained whether all 12 msp7 paralogs are shared and syntenic between the three species due to the lack of genomic information on P. fieldi .…”

Diversity, host switching and evolution of Plasmodium vivax infecting African great apes

“…Because the Csp sequences show high polymorphism in the number of repeats in the CR region, only the nonrepetitive regions (5′ and 3′ NR) were used for phylogenetic analyses (20). Results showed that the ape sequences were genetically divergent from the ones circulating in humans and fell outside their haplotype diversity (Figs.…”

A Review of Plasmodium coatneyi–Macaque Models of Severe Malaria

“…27,82,122 P. coatneyi has been reported as causing natural and experimentally induced disease in a variety of NHP species. However, only cynomolgus macaques (M. fascicularis), 33,34,62,74 pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), 62 stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides), 98 and Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) 84 have been reported to be susceptible to infection in nature, with or without clinical evidence of disease. In addition to use of those species that are naturally infected, animals in which experimental P. coatneyi infection has been studied to various extents include the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), || black-capped squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis), 109 Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), 53,54,56,70 silvery lutung (Presbytis cristalus), 14 and white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar).…”