Discriminating micropathogen lineages and their reticulate evolution through graph theory-based network analysis: the case of Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease.

ABSTRACT: Micropathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasitic protozoa) share a common trait, which is partial clonality, with wide variance in the respective influence of clonality and sexual recombination on the dynamics and evolution of taxa. The discrimination of distinct lineages and the reconstruction of their phylogenetic history are key information to infer their biomedical properties. However, the phylogenetic picture is often clouded by occasional events of recombination across divergent lineages, limiting the relevance of classical phylogenetic analysis and dichotomic trees. We have applied a network analysis based on graph theory to illustrate the relationships among genotypes of Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasitic protozoan responsible for Chagas disease, to identify major lineages and to

SUBMITTER: Arnaud-Haond S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4141739 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature