Extracellular vesicles as a horizontal gene transfer mechanism in Leishmania

Antonio Marcilla; Christian M Sánchez-López

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2022.08.004

Extracellular vesicles as a horizontal gene transfer mechanism in Leishmania

Trends Parasitol. 2022 Oct;38(10):823-825. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.08.004. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Authors

Antonio Marcilla¹, Christian M Sánchez-López²

Affiliations

¹ Área de Parasitología, Departament de Farmàcia i Tecnologia Farmacèutica i Parasitologia, Universitat de València, Burjassot (Valencia), Spain; Joint Research Unit on Endocrinology, Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics, Health Research IIS La Fe-Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: antonio.marcilla@uv.es.
² Área de Parasitología, Departament de Farmàcia i Tecnologia Farmacèutica i Parasitologia, Universitat de València, Burjassot (Valencia), Spain; Joint Research Unit on Endocrinology, Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics, Health Research IIS La Fe-Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain.

PMID: 35985927
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.08.004

Abstract

Douanne et al. recently reported horizontal gene transfer (HGT) mediated by extracellular vesicles (EVs) in Leishmania; this constitutes the first report of this phenomenon in parasites. They showed that EVs facilitate the transmission of drug-resistance genes and increased cell fitness in stressful environments, indicating potential clinical application of these findings.

Keywords: DNA; Leishmania; extracellular vesicles; horizontal gene transfer (HGT); resistance; vesiduction.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Animals
Drug Resistance
Extracellular Vesicles*
Gene Transfer, Horizontal
Leishmania* / genetics
Parasites*