Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Trans-Atlantic Spill Over: Deconstructing the Ecological Adaptation of Leishmania Infantum in the Americas

Version 1 : Received: 26 November 2019 / Approved: 27 November 2019 / Online: 27 November 2019 (09:27:16 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Boité, M.C.; Späth, G.F.; Bussotti, G.; Porrozzi, R.; Morgado, F.N.; Llewellyn, M.; Schwabl, P.; Cupolillo, E. Trans-Atlantic Spill Over: Deconstructing the Ecological Adaptation of Leishmania infantum in the Americas. Genes 2020, 11, 4. Boité, M.C.; Späth, G.F.; Bussotti, G.; Porrozzi, R.; Morgado, F.N.; Llewellyn, M.; Schwabl, P.; Cupolillo, E. Trans-Atlantic Spill Over: Deconstructing the Ecological Adaptation of Leishmania infantum in the Americas. Genes 2020, 11, 4.

Abstract

Pathogen fitness landscapes change when transmission cycles establish in non-native environments or spill over into new vectors and hosts. The introduction of Leishmania infantum in the Americas into the Neotropics during European colonization represents a unique case study to investigate mechanisms of ecological adaptation of this important parasite. Defining the evolutionary trajectories that drive L. infantum fitness in this new environment are of great public health importance as they will allow unique insight into pathways of host/pathogen co-evolution and their consequences for region-specific changes in disease manifestation. This review summarizes current knowledge on L. infantum genetic and phenotypic diversity in the Americas and its possible role in the unique epidemiology of VL in the New World. We highlight the importance of appreciating adaptive molecular mechanisms in L. infantum to understand the parasites’ successful establishment on the continent.

Keywords

leishmania; visceral leishmaniasis; Americas; genome instability,; fitness gain

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology

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