Selection at a single locus leads to widespread expansion of Toxoplasma gondii lineages that are virulent in mice.

ABSTRACT: Pathogenicity differences among laboratory isolates of the dominant clonal North American and European lineages of Toxoplasma gondii are largely controlled by polymorphisms and expression differences in rhoptry secretory proteins (ROPs). However, the extent to which such differences control virulence in natural isolates of T. gondii, including those from more diverse genetic backgrounds, is uncertain. We elucidated the evolutionary history and functional consequences of diversification in the serine/threonine kinase ROP18, a major virulence determinant in the mouse model. We characterized the extent of sequence polymorphism and the evolutionary forces acting on ROP18 and several antigen-encoding genes within a large collection of natural isolates, comparing them to housekeeping genes and i

SUBMITTER: Khan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2644818 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature