Dissection of Besnoitia besnoiti intermediate host life cycle stages: From morphology to gene expression

• Published in: PLoS pathogens Vol. 18; no. 11; p. e1010955
• Main Authors: Ramakrishnan, Chandra, Krishnan, Aarti, Francisco, Samuel, Schmid, Marc W, Russo, Giancarlo, Leitão, Alexandre, Hemphill, Andrew, Soldati-Favre, Dominique, Hehl, Adrian B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco, CA USA Public Library of Science 17-11-2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; Cysts; Development and progression; Gene expression; Host-parasite relationships; Life cycles (Biology); Medicine and Health Sciences; Morphology; Parasitic diseases; Parasitological research; Physiological aspects; Sporozoa; Switzerland
• ISSN: 1553-7374; 1553-7366; 1553-7374
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010955

Cyst-forming Apicomplexa (CFA) of the Sarcocystidae have a ubiquitous presence as pathogens of humans and farm animals transmitted through the food chain between hosts with few notable exceptions. The defining hallmark of this family of obligate intracellular protists consists of their ability to remain for very long periods as infectious tissue cysts in chronically infected intermediate hosts. Nevertheless, each closely related species has evolved unique strategies to maintain distinct reservoirs on global scales and ensuring efficient transmission to definitive hosts as well as between intermediate hosts. Here, we present an in-depth comparative mRNA expression analysis of the tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages of
Besnoitia besnoiti
strain Lisbon14 isolated from an infected farm animal based on its annotated genome sequence. The
B
.
besnoiti
genome is highly syntenic with that of other CFA and also retains the capacity to encode a large majority of known and inferred factors essential for completing a sexual cycle in a yet unknown definitive host. This work introduces
Besnoitia besnoiti
as a new model for comparative biology of coccidian tissue cysts which can be readily obtained in high purity. This model provides a framework for addressing fundamental questions about the evolution of tissue cysts and the biology of this pharmacologically intractable infectious parasite stage.