The revised Trypanosoma cruzi subspecific nomenclature: rationale, epidemiological relevance and research applications.
The protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, its mammalian reservoirs, and vectors have existed in nature for millions of years. The human infection, named Chagas disease, is a major public health problem for Latin America. T. cruzi is genetically highly diverse and the understanding of the population structure of this parasite is critical because of the links to transmission cycles and disease. At present, T. cruzi is partitioned into six discrete typing units (DTUs), TcI-TcVI. Here we focus on the current status of taxonomy-related areas such as population structure, phylogeographical and eco-epidemiological features, and the correlation of DTU with natural and experimental infection. We also summarize methods for DTU genotyping, available for widespread use in endemic areas. For the immediate future multilocus sequence typing is likely to be the gold standard for population studies. We conclude that greater advances in our knowledge on pathogenic and epidemiological features of these parasites are expected in the coming decade through the comparative analysis of the genomes from isolates of various DTUs.
Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil. zingales@iq.usp.br
Bianca
B
Zingales
Michael A
MA
Miles
David A
DA
Campbell
Michel
M
Tibayrenc
Andrea M
AM
Macedo
Marta M G
MM
Teixeira
Alejandro G
AG
Schijman
Martin S
MS
Llewellyn
Eliane
E
Lages-Silva
Carlos R
CR
Machado
Sonia G
SG
Andrade
Nancy R
NR
Sturm
D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000469:parasitology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018503:Genome, Protozoan; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D058974:Phylogeography; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity