Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Virulent strains of Toxoplasma gondii comprise a single clonal lineage

Nature volume 359, pages 82–85 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

THE protozoan Toxoplasma gondii is a prevalent parasite in wild and domestic animals worldwide, being transmitted through the food chain by carnivorous feeding and scavenging1. Toxoplasma normally divides asexually to yield a haploid form that can infect virtually any vertebrate but it also has a well defined sexual cycle that occurs exclusively in cats1. Toxoplasma has become important as an often fatal opportunistic pathogen in patients with AIDS2,3, although the 15–85% of adult human populations that are chronically infected with T. gondii are typically asymptomatic4–7. Infections in immunocompromised hosts have variable outcomes. For example, only 30 to 50% of AIDS patients that are chronically infected with the parasite develop toxoplasmic encephalitis2,3 and only about half of acute maternal infections result in congenital disease of the newborn8. T. gondii strains differ in their virulence in animals1, but the extent to which different strains are related has not been determined. Here we analyse 28 strains from a variety of hosts on five continents and find that the ten virulent strains have an essentially identical genotype, whereas the nonvirulent strains are moderately polymorphic. These data strongly suggest that virulent strains of T. gondii originated from a single lineage which has remained genetically homogeneous despite being globally widespread, and despite the ability of this organism to reproduce sexually

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

References

  1. Dubey, J. P. in Parasitic Protozoa (ed. Kreier, J. P.) 101–237 (Academic, New York, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Luft, B. J. & Remington, J. S. J. inf. Dis. 157, 1–6 (1988).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Danneman, B. R. & Remington, J. S. Hosp. Pract. 24, 139–154 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hughes, H. P. A. Parasit. Today 1, 41–44 (1985).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Desmonts, G. & Couvreur, J. New Engl. J. Med. 290, 1110–1116 (1974).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Feldman, H. A. Am. J. Epidemiol. 81, 385–391 (1965).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Apt, W. Parasit. Today 1, 44–46 (1985).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wilson, C. B. & Remington, J. S. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 138, 357–363 (1980).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Sibley, L. D. & Boothroyd, J. C. Molec. biochem. Parasitol. 51, 291–300 (1992).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Sibley, L. D., LeBlanc, A. J., Pfefferkron, E. R. & Boothroyd, J. C. Genetics (in the press).

  11. Burg, J. L., Perelman, D., Kasper, L. H., Ware, P. L. & Boothroyd, J. C. J. Immun. 141, 3584–3591 (1988).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Saiki, R. K. et al. Science 230, 1350–1354 (1985).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Darde, M. L., Bouteille, B. & Pestre-Alexandre, M. Am. J. trop. Med. Hyg. 39, 551–558 (1988).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Darde, M. L., Bouteille, B. & Pestre-Alexander, M. J. Parasit. (in the press).

  15. Tibayrenc, M., Kjellberg, F. & Ayala, F. J. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 2414–2418 (1990).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Selander, R. K. & Levin, B. R. Science 210, 545–547 (1980).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Kiehn, T. E. et al. J. clin. Microbiol. 21, 168–173 (1985).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Tibayrenc, M. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 88, 5129–5133 (1991).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Boothroyd, J. C., LeBlanc, A. J. & Sibley, L. D. in Toxoplasmosis: NATO ASI Series (Springer, New York, in the press).

  20. Pfefferkorn, E. R., Pfefferkorn, L. C. & Colby, E. D. J. Parasit. 63, 158–159 (1977).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Buelow, R. & Boothroyd, J. C. J. Immun. 147, 3496–3500 (1991).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Kasper, L. H. & Ware, P. L. J. clin. Invest. 75, 1570–1577 (1985).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Sabin, A. B. J. Am. med. Assoc. 116, 801–807 (1941).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Grover, C. M., Thulliez, P., Remington, J. S. & Boothroyd, J. C. J. clin. Microbiol. 28, 2297–2301 (1990).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. L. David Sibley

    Present address: Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA

  2. John C. Boothroyd: To whom correspondence should be addressed

Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, 94305-5402, USA

    L. David Sibley & John C. Boothroyd

Authors
  1. L. David Sibley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John C. Boothroyd
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sibley, L., Boothroyd, J. Virulent strains of Toxoplasma gondii comprise a single clonal lineage. Nature 359, 82–85 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/359082a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/359082a0

Further reading

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing