Journal Article

Wild bonobos host geographically restricted malaria parasites including a putative new Laverania species

Bertolani, Paco, Dupain, Jef, Li, Yingying, Hart, Terese B., Lauder, Abigail P., Hart, John A., Scully, Erik J., Peeters, Martine, Ndjango, Jean-Bosco N., Georgiev, Alexander V., Avitto, Alexa N., Hahn, Beatrice H., Plenderleith, Lindsey J., Loy, Dorothy E., Ahuka-Mundeke, Steve, Sherrill-Mix, Scott, Sharp, Paul M., Garai, Cintia, Shaw, George M., Learn, Gerald H., Sundararaman, Sesh A., Liu, Weimin

2017

Overview

Malaria parasites, though widespread among wild chimpanzees and gorillas, have not been detected in bonobos. Here, we show that wild-living bonobos are endemically Plasmodium infected in the eastern-most part of their range. Testing 1556 faecal samples from 11 field sites, we identify high prevalence Laverania infections in the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba (TL2) area, but not at other locations across the Congo. TL2 bonobos harbour P. gaboni , formerly only found in chimpanzees, as well as a potential new species, Plasmodium lomamiensis sp. nov. Rare co-infections with non- Laverania parasites were also observed. Phylogenetic relationships among Laverania species are consistent with co-divergence with their gorilla, chimpanzee and bonobo hosts, suggesting a timescale for their evolution. The absence of Plasmodium from most field sites could not be explained by parasite seasonality, nor by bonobo population structure, diet or gut microbiota. Thus, the geographic restriction of bonobo Plasmodium reflects still unidentified factors that likely influence parasite transmission. Unlike chimpanzees and gorillas, bonobos have not been found infected by malaria parasites in the wild. Here, Liu et al. report more thorough survey and sequencing results showing that bonobos host malaria parasites, including a yet-unknown species, but only in the eastern-most part of their range.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 631/158/1469 / 631/326/417/2548 / 631/326/417/2551 / Animals / Animals, Wild - parasitology / Chimpanzees / Congo / Divergence / Feces - parasitology / Humanities and Social Sciences / Intestinal microflora / Laverania / Malaria / Malaria - parasitology / Malaria - veterinary / Microbiota / Monkeys & apes / multidisciplinary / New species / Pan paniscus - parasitology / Parasites / Phylogeny / Plasmodium / Plasmodium - classification / Plasmodium - genetics / Plasmodium - isolation & purification / Population structure / Primate Diseases - parasitology / Rare species / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Seasonal variations / Vector-borne diseases