Babesia life cycle – When phylogeny meets biology
Although Babesia represents an important worldwide veterinary threat and an emerging risk to humans, this parasite has been poorly studied as compared to Plasmodium, its malaria-causing relative. In fact, Babesia employs highly specific survival strategies during its intraerythrocytic development and its intricate journey through the tick vector. This review introduces a substantially extended molecular phylogeny of the order Piroplasmida, challenging previous taxonomic classifications. The intriguing developmental proficiencies of Babesia are highlighted and compared with those of other haemoparasitic Apicomplexa. Molecular mechanisms associated with distinctive events in the Babesia life cycle are emphasized as potential targets for the development of Babesia-specific treatments.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | info:ar-repo/semantics/reseña artículo biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2019-02-04
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| Subjects: | Babesia, Ciclo Vital, Filogenia, Biología, Metastigmata, Biología Molecular, Life Cycle, Phylogeny, Biology, Molecular Biology, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/4744 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471492219300200?via%3Dihub https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2019.01.007 |
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| Summary: | Although Babesia represents an important worldwide veterinary threat and an emerging risk to humans, this parasite has been poorly studied as compared to Plasmodium, its malaria-causing relative. In fact, Babesia employs highly specific survival strategies during its intraerythrocytic development and its intricate journey through the tick vector. This review introduces a substantially extended molecular phylogeny of the order Piroplasmida, challenging previous taxonomic classifications. The intriguing developmental proficiencies of Babesia are highlighted and compared with those of other haemoparasitic Apicomplexa. Molecular mechanisms associated with distinctive events in the Babesia life cycle are emphasized as potential targets for the development of Babesia-specific treatments. |
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