Recent transcontinental sweep of Toxoplasma gondii driven by a single monomorphic chromosome.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is a highly prevalent protozoan parasite that infects a wide range of animals and threatens human health by contaminating food and water. A markedly limited number of clonal parasite lineages have been recognized as predominating in North American and European populations, whereas strains from South America are comparatively diverse. Here, we show that strains from North America and Europe share distinct genetic polymorphisms that are mutually exclusive from polymorphisms in strains from the south. A striking exception to this geographic segregation is a monomorphic version of one chromosome (Chr1a) that characterizes virtually all northern and many southern isolates. Using a combination of molecular phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses, we conclude that northern and sout

SUBMITTER: Khan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1965483 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature