Sex under pressure: stress facilitates Leishmania in vitro hybridization

Rubens L Monte-Neto; Christopher Fernandez-Prada; Nilmar S Moretti

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2022.02.001

Sex under pressure: stress facilitates Leishmania in vitro hybridization

Trends Parasitol. 2022 Apr;38(4):274-276. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.02.001. Epub 2022 Feb 16.

Authors

Rubens L Monte-Neto¹, Christopher Fernandez-Prada², Nilmar S Moretti³

Affiliations

¹ Biotecnologia Aplicada ao Estudo de Patógenos (BAP) - Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Electronic address: rubens.monte@fiocruz.br.
² Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada.
³ Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Patógenos (LBMP) - Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia - Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

PMID: 35181250
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.02.001

Abstract

The selection of Leishmania hybrids in axenic culture was considered rare until recently, when Louradour and Ferreira et al., demonstrated that induced DNA damage facilitates genetic exchange, resulting in full genome tetraploid progenies in vitro. Meiosis-related gene homologues HAP2, GEX1, and RAD51 were found to be involved, opening new avenues for functional genomic studies.

Keywords: Leishmania; genetic exchange; hybrids; in vitro; sexual reproduction; stress.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Genome
Hybridization, Genetic
Leishmania* / genetics