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Himmel T, Harl J, Matt J, Nedorost N, Iezhova T, Ilgūnas M, Valkiūnas G, Weissenböck H. RNAscope in situ hybridization reveals microvascular sequestration of Plasmodium relictum pSGS1 blood stages but absence of exo-erythrocytic dormant stages during latent infection of Serinus canaria. Malar J 2024; 23:70. [PMID: 38459560 PMCID: PMC10924391 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-024-04899-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Birds chronically infected with avian malaria parasites often show relapses of parasitaemia after latent stages marked by absence of parasites in the peripheral circulation. These relapses are assumed to result from the activation of dormant exo-erythrocytic stages produced during secondary (post-erythrocytic) merogony of avian Plasmodium spp. Yet, there is no morphological proof of persistent or dormant tissue stages in the avian host during latent infections. This study investigated persistence of Plasmodium relictum pSGS1 in birds with latent infections during winter, with the goal to detect presumed persisting tissue stages using a highly sensitive RNAscope® in situ hybridization technology. METHODS Fourteen domestic canaries were infected with P. relictum pSGS1 by blood-inoculation in spring, and blood films examined during the first 4 months post infection, and during winter and spring of the following year. After parasitaemia was no longer detectable, half of the birds were dissected, and tissue samples investigated for persisting tissue stages using RNAscope ISH and histology. The remaining birds were blood-checked and dissected after re-appearance of parasitaemia, and their tissues equally examined. RESULTS Systematic examination of tissues showed no exo-erythrocytic stages in birds exhibiting latent infections by blood-film microscopy, indicating absence of dormant tissue stages in P. relictum pSGS1-infected canaries. Instead, RNAscope ISH revealed rare P. relictum blood stages in capillaries of various tissues and organs, demonstrating persistence of the parasites in the microvasculature. Birds examined after re-appearance of parasitemia showed higher numbers of P. relictum blood stages in both capillaries and larger blood vessels, indicating replication during early spring and re-appearance in the peripheral circulation. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that persistence of P. relictum pSGS1 during latent infection is mediated by continuous low-level erythrocytic merogony and possibly tissue sequestration of infected blood cells. Re-appearance of parasitaemia in spring seems to result from increased erythrocytic merogony, therefore representing recrudescence and not relapse in blood-inoculated canaries. Further, the study highlights strengths and limitations of the RNAscope ISH technology for the detection of rare parasite stages in tissues, providing directions for future research on persistence and tissue sequestration of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanja Himmel
- Institute of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Josef Harl
- Institute of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julia Matt
- Institute of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - Nora Nedorost
- Institute of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - Tatjana Iezhova
- Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, 08412, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Mikas Ilgūnas
- Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, 08412, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | | | - Herbert Weissenböck
- Institute of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
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Stürmer VS, Stopper S, Binder P, Klemmer A, Lichti NP, Becker NB, Guizetti J. Progeny counter mechanism in malaria parasites is linked to extracellular resources. PLoS Pathog 2023; 19:e1011807. [PMID: 38051755 PMCID: PMC10723702 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Malaria is caused by the rapid proliferation of Plasmodium parasites in patients and disease severity correlates with the number of infected red blood cells in circulation. Parasite multiplication within red blood cells is called schizogony and occurs through an atypical multinucleated cell division mode. The mechanisms regulating the number of daughter cells produced by a single progenitor are poorly understood. We investigated underlying regulatory principles by quantifying nuclear multiplication dynamics in Plasmodium falciparum and knowlesi using super-resolution time-lapse microscopy. This confirmed that the number of daughter cells was consistent with a model in which a counter mechanism regulates multiplication yet incompatible with a timer mechanism. P. falciparum cell volume at the start of nuclear division correlated with the final number of daughter cells. As schizogony progressed, the nucleocytoplasmic volume ratio, which has been found to be constant in all eukaryotes characterized so far, increased significantly, possibly to accommodate the exponentially multiplying nuclei. Depleting nutrients by dilution of culture medium caused parasites to produce fewer merozoites and reduced proliferation but did not affect cell volume or total nuclear volume at the end of schizogony. Our findings suggest that the counter mechanism implicated in malaria parasite proliferation integrates extracellular resource status to modify progeny number during blood stage infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa S. Stürmer
- Heidelberg University Medical Faculty, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sophie Stopper
- Heidelberg University Medical Faculty, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Patrick Binder
- Institute for Theoretical Physics and BioQuant, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
- Theoretical Systems Biology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anja Klemmer
- Heidelberg University Medical Faculty, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Nicolas P. Lichti
- Heidelberg University Medical Faculty, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Nils B. Becker
- Theoretical Systems Biology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julien Guizetti
- Heidelberg University Medical Faculty, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
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Iriarte LS, Martinez CI, de Miguel N, Coceres VM. Tritrichomonas foetus Cell Division Involves DNA Endoreplication and Multiple Fissions. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0325122. [PMID: 36728437 PMCID: PMC10100903 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03251-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Tritrichomonas foetus and Trichomonas vaginalis are extracellular flagellated parasites that inhabit animals and humans, respectively. Cell division is a crucial process in most living organisms that leads to the formation of 2 daughter cells from a single mother cell. It has been assumed that T. vaginalis and T. foetus modes of reproduction are exclusively by binary fission. However, here, we showed that multinuclearity is a phenomenon regularly observed in different T. foetus and T. vaginalis strains in standard culture conditions. Additionally, we revealed that nutritional depletion or nutritional deprivation led to different dormant phenotypes. Although multinucleated T. foetus are mostly observed during nutritional depletion, numerous cells with 1 larger nucleus have been observed under nutritional deprivation conditions. In both cases, when the standard culture media conditions are restored, the cytoplasm of these multinucleated cells separates, and numerous parasites are generated in a short period of time by the fission multiple. We also revealed that DNA endoreplication occurs both in large and multiple nuclei of parasites under nutritional deprivation and depletion conditions, suggesting an important function in stress nutritional situations. These results provide valuable data about the cell division process of these extracellular parasites. IMPORTANCE Nowadays, it's known that T. foetus and T. vaginalis generate daughter cells by binary fission. Here, we report that both parasites are also capable of dividing by multiple fission under stress conditions. We also demonstrated, for the first time, that T. foetus can increase its DNA content per parasite without concluding the cytokinesis process (endoreplication) under stress conditions, which represents an efficient strategy for subsequent fast multiplication when the context becomes favorable. Additionally, we revealed the existence of novel dormant forms of resistance (multinucleated or mononucleated polyploid parasites), different than the previously described pseudocysts, that are formed under stress conditions. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the role of these structures in the parasites' transmission in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucrecia S. Iriarte
- Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomús, Argentina
- Escuela de Bio y Nanotecnologías, Universidad Nacional de San Martin (UNSAM), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Cristian I. Martinez
- Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomús, Argentina
- Escuela de Bio y Nanotecnologías, Universidad Nacional de San Martin (UNSAM), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Natalia de Miguel
- Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomús, Argentina
- Escuela de Bio y Nanotecnologías, Universidad Nacional de San Martin (UNSAM), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Veronica M. Coceres
- Laboratorio de Parásitos Anaerobios, Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús (INTECH), CONICET-UNSAM, Chascomús, Argentina
- Escuela de Bio y Nanotecnologías, Universidad Nacional de San Martin (UNSAM), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Simon CS, Stürmer VS, Guizetti J. How Many Is Enough? - Challenges of Multinucleated Cell Division in Malaria Parasites. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:658616. [PMID: 34026661 PMCID: PMC8137892 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.658616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Regulating the number of progeny generated by replicative cell cycles is critical for any organism to best adapt to its environment. Classically, the decision whether to divide further is made after cell division is completed by cytokinesis and can be triggered by intrinsic or extrinsic factors. Contrarily, cell cycles of some species, such as the malaria-causing parasites, go through multinucleated cell stages. Hence, their number of progeny is determined prior to the completion of cell division. This should fundamentally affect how the process is regulated and raises questions about advantages and challenges of multinucleation in eukaryotes. Throughout their life cycle Plasmodium spp. parasites undergo four phases of extensive proliferation, which differ over three orders of magnitude in the amount of daughter cells that are produced by a single progenitor. Even during the asexual blood stage proliferation parasites can produce very variable numbers of progeny within one replicative cycle. Here, we review the few factors that have been shown to affect those numbers. We further provide a comparative quantification of merozoite numbers in several P. knowlesi and P. falciparum parasite strains, and we discuss the general processes that may regulate progeny number in the context of host-parasite interactions. Finally, we provide a perspective of the critical knowledge gaps hindering our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying this exciting and atypical mode of parasite multiplication.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Julien Guizetti
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
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Peters MAE, Greischar MA, Mideo N. Challenges in forming inferences from limited data: a case study of malaria parasite maturation. J R Soc Interface 2021; 18:20210065. [PMID: 33906391 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Inferring biological processes from population dynamics is a common challenge in ecology, particularly when faced with incomplete data. This challenge extends to inferring parasite traits from within-host infection dynamics. We focus on rodent malaria infections (Plasmodium berghei), a system for which previous work inferred an immune-mediated extension in the length of the parasite development cycle within red blood cells. By developing a system of delay-differential equations to describe within-host infection dynamics and simulating data, we demonstrate the potential to obtain biased estimates of parasite (and host) traits when key biological processes are not considered. Despite generating infection dynamics using a fixed parasite developmental cycle length, we find that known sources of measurement bias in parasite stage and abundance data can affect estimates of parasite developmental duration, with stage misclassification driving inferences about extended cycle length. We discuss alternative protocols and statistical methods that can mitigate such misestimation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline A E Peters
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto Ontario, Canada
| | - Megan A Greischar
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Nicole Mideo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto Ontario, Canada
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Prior KF, Rijo-Ferreira F, Assis PA, Hirako IC, Weaver DR, Gazzinelli RT, Reece SE. Periodic Parasites and Daily Host Rhythms. Cell Host Microbe 2020; 27:176-187. [PMID: 32053788 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Biological rhythms appear to be an elegant solution to the challenge of coordinating activities with the consequences of the Earth's daily and seasonal rotation. The genes and molecular mechanisms underpinning circadian clocks in multicellular organisms are well understood. In contrast, the regulatory mechanisms and fitness consequences of biological rhythms exhibited by parasites remain mysterious. Here, we explore how periodicity in parasite traits is generated and why daily rhythms matter for parasite fitness. We focus on malaria (Plasmodium) parasites which exhibit developmental rhythms during replication in the mammalian host's blood and in transmission to vectors. Rhythmic in-host parasite replication is responsible for eliciting inflammatory responses, the severity of disease symptoms, and fueling transmission, as well as conferring tolerance to anti-parasite drugs. Thus, understanding both how and why the timing and synchrony of parasites are connected to the daily rhythms of hosts and vectors may make treatment more effective and less toxic to hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberley F Prior
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology & Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
| | - Filipa Rijo-Ferreira
- Department of Neuroscience, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute & Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Patricia A Assis
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Isabella C Hirako
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - Minas, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - David R Weaver
- Department of Neurobiology & NeuroNexus Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Ricardo T Gazzinelli
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - Minas, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - Sarah E Reece
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology & Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Garcia-Longoria L, Palinauskas V, Ilgūnas M, Valkiūnas G, Hellgren O. Differential gene expression of Plasmodium homocircumflexum (lineage pCOLL4) across two experimentally infected passerine bird species. Genomics 2020; 112:2857-2865. [PMID: 32234432 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2020.03.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Revised: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Plasmodium parasites are present in a wide range of host species, some of which tend to be more susceptible than others, potentially as an outcome of evolved tolerance or resistance. Common starlings seem to cope with malaria infection while common crossbills are more susceptible to the same infections. That raises the question if the parasites rely on the same molecular mechanisms regardless of host species or do Plasmodium parasites change gene-expressions in accordance to the environment different hosts might provide? We used RNA-sequencing from starlings and crossbills, experimentally infected with Plasmodium homocircumflexum (lineage pCOLL4). The assembled transcriptome contained a total of 26,733 contigs. Parasite expression patterns differed between bird species. Parasites had higher expression of cell-invasion genes when infecting crossbills compared to starlings whereas in starlings genes related to apoptosis or/and oxidative stress showed higher expression levels. This article reveals how a Plasmodium parasite might adjust its expression and gene function depending on the host species infected.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Garcia-Longoria
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, E-506071 Badajoz, Spain.
| | | | - M Ilgūnas
- Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | | | - O Hellgren
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Birget PLG, Schneider P, O’Donnell AJ, Reece SE. Adaptive phenotypic plasticity in malaria parasites is not constrained by previous responses to environmental change. EVOLUTION MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 2019:190-198. [PMID: 31660151 PMCID: PMC6805783 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoz028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Background and objectives Phenotypic plasticity enables organisms to maximize fitness by matching trait values to different environments. Such adaptive phenotypic plasticity is exhibited by parasites, which experience frequent environmental changes during their life cycle, between individual hosts and also in within-host conditions experienced during infections. Life history theory predicts that the evolution of adaptive phenotypic plasticity is limited by costs and constraints, but tests of these concepts are scarce. Methodology Here, we induce phenotypic plasticity in malaria parasites to test whether mounting a plastic response to an environmental perturbation constrains subsequent plastic responses to further environmental change. Specifically, we perturb red blood cell resource availability to induce Plasmodium chabaudi to alter the trait values of several phenotypes underpinning within-host replication and between-host transmission. We then transfer parasites to unperturbed hosts to examine whether constraints govern the parasites’ ability to alter these phenotypes in response to their new in-host environment. Results Parasites alter trait values in response to the within-host environment they are exposed to. We do not detect negative consequences, for within-host replication or between-host transmission, of previously mounting a plastic response to a perturbed within-host environment. Conclusions and implications We suggest that malaria parasites are highly plastic and adapted to adjusting their phenotypes in response to the frequent changes in the within-host conditions they experience during infections. Our findings support the growing body of evidence that medical interventions, such as anti-parasite drugs, induce plastic responses that are adaptive and can facilitate the survival and potentially, drug resistance of parasites. Lay Summary Malaria parasites have evolved flexible strategies to cope with the changing conditions they experience during infections. We show that using such flexible strategies does not impact upon the parasites’ ability to grow (resulting in disease symptoms) or transmit (spreading the disease).
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip L G Birget
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Petra Schneider
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Aidan J O’Donnell
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Sarah E Reece
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
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