Parasite evolution

The whipworm Trichuris trichiura is a soil-transmitted helminth that causes the neglected tropical disease trichuriasis in humans. Here, the authors produce whole genome sequences of modern and ancient samples from humans and non-human primates to characterise the genomic diversity and evolution of this pathogen.

Transitions between hermaphroditic and separate sexes are relatively understudied in animals compared to pants. Here, Wang et al. reconstruct the evolution of separate sexes in the flatworms and complex changes of sex chromosomes in the roundworms.

Plasmodium malariae is a cause of malaria in humans and related species have been identified in non-human primates. Here, the authors use genomic analyses to establish that human P. malariae arose from a host switch of an ape parasite whilst a species infecting New World monkeys can be traced to a reverse zoonosis.

Tesan et al. describe a large number of aquaporin protein sequences of the kinetoplastids using sequence similarity networks and phylogenetic trees. The authors conclude that trypanosomatid aquaporins integrate a distant cluster from the currently defined MIP families, which they term aquaporin X (AQPX).