Article
Leishmania Genome Dynamics during Environmental Adaptation Reveal Strain-Specific Differences in Gene Copy Number Variation, Karyotype Instability, and Telomeric Amplification
Registro en:
BUSSOTTI, Giovanni et al. Leishmania Genome Dynamics during Environmental Adaptation Reveal Strain-Specific Differences in Gene Copy Number Variation, Karyotype Instability, and Telomeric Amplification. mBio, v. 9, n. 6, p. 1-18, Nov./ Dez. 2018.
2150-7511
10.1128/mBio.01399-18
Autor
Bussotti, Giovanni
Gouzelou, Evi
Aoun, Karim
Bouratbine, Aïda
Cupolillo, Elisa
Späthb, Gerald F.
Kherachi, Ihcen
Harrat, Zoubir
Eddaikra, Naouel
Mottran, Jeremy C.
Antoniou, Maria
Christodoulou, Vasiliki
Bali, Aymen
Guerfali, Fatima Z.
Laouini, Dhafer
Mukhtar, Maowia
Dumetz, Franck
Dujardim, Jean-Claude
Smirlis, Despina
Lechar, Pierre
Pescher, Pascale
El Hamouchi, Adil
Lemrani, Meryem
Chicharro, Carmen
Llanes-Acevedo, Ivonne Pamela
Botana, Laura
Cruz, Israel
Boité, Mariana Côrtes
Moreno, Javier
Jeddi, Fakhn
Resumen
Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania adapt to environmental change through chromosome and gene copy number variations. Only little is known about external or intrinsic factors that govern Leishmania genomic adaptation. Here, by conducting longitudinal genome analyses of 10 new Leishmania clinical isolates, we uncovered important differences in gene copy number among genetically highly related strains and revealed gain and loss of gene copies as potential drivers of long-term environmental adaptation in the field. In contrast, chromosome rather than gene amplification was associated with short-term environmental adaptation to in vitro culture. Karyotypic solutions were highly reproducible but unique for a given strain, suggesting that chromosome amplification is under positive selection and dependent on species- and strain-specific intrinsic factors. We revealed a progressive increase in read depth towards the chromosome ends for various Leishmania isolates, which may represent a nonclassical mechanism of telomere maintenance that can preserve integrity of chromosome ends during selection for fast in vitro growth. Together our data draw a complex picture of Leishmania genomic adaptation in the field and in culture, which is driven by a combination of intrinsic genetic factors that generate strain-specific phenotypic variations, which are under environmental selection and allow for fitness gain.