Evolutionary history of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium simium in the Americas

Virginie Rougeron (1, 2) , Josquin Daron (3) , Michael C. Fontaine (3, 4) , Franck Prugnolle (3, 2)

1 MIVEGEC-HEAT - Health, Emergence, Adaptation and Transmission
2 REHABS - Reconciling Ecological and Human Adaptations for Biosphere Sustainability
3 MIVEGEC - Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle
4 GELIFES - Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences [Groningen]

Malaria is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium . Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent human-infecting species in the Americas. However, the origins of this parasite in this continent are still debated. Similarly, it is now accepted that the existence of Plasmodium simium is explained by a P. vivax transfer from humans to monkey in America. However, many uncertainties still exist concerning the origin of the transfer and whether several transfers occurred. In this review, the most recent studies that addressed these questions using genetic and genomic approaches are presented.

Mots clés: Plasmodium vivax; Evolutionary origin; Adaptation; Americas; Population genomics

Domaines: Parasitologie; Evolution [q-bio.PE]; Génétique des populations [q-bio.PE]

Virginie Rougeron, Josquin Daron, Michael C. Fontaine, Franck Prugnolle. Evolutionary history of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium simium in the Americas. Malaria Journal, 2022, 21 (1), pp.141. ⟨10.1186/s12936-022-04132-7⟩. ⟨hal-03748455⟩