Trypanozoma

Infection, Genetics and Evolution xxx (2012) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Infection, Genetics and Evolution
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/meegid

Review

The revised Trypanosoma cruzi subspecific nomenclature: Rationale, epidemiological relevance and research applications
Bianca Zingales a,⇑, Michael A. Miles b, David A. Campbell c, MichelTibayrenc d, Andrea M. Macedo e, Marta M.G. Teixeira f, Alejandro G. Schijman g, Martin S. Llewellyn b, Eliane Lages-Silva h, Carlos R. Machado e, Sonia G. Andrade i, Nancy R. Sturm c
a

Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street,London WC1E 7HT, UK c Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7065, USA d Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle, MIVEGEC/IDVEGEC, UM1-CNRS 5290-IRD 224, IRD Center, BP 64501, 34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France e Departamentode Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CP 486, 30161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil f Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes 1374, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil g Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de la Enfermedad de Chagas, INGEBI-CONICET, Vuelto Obligado2490, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina h Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Rua Frei Paulino 30, Uberaba, MG, Brazil i Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rua Waldemar Falcão 121, 40295-001 Salvador, Brazil
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
The protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, its mammalian reservoirs, and vectors have existedin nature for millions of years. The human infection, named Chagas disease, is a major public health problem for Latin America. T. cruzi is genetically highly diverse and the understanding of the population structure of this parasite is critical because of the links to transmission cycles and disease. At present, T. cruzi is partitioned into six discrete typing units (DTUs), TcI–TcVI. Here wefocus on the current status of taxonomy-related areas such as population structure, phylogeographical and eco-epidemiological features, and the correlation of DTU with natural and experimental infection. We also summarize methods for DTU genotyping, available for widespread use in endemic areas. For the immediate future multilocus sequence typing is likely to be the gold standard for populationstudies. We conclude that greater advances in our knowledge on pathogenic and epidemiological features of these parasites are expected in the coming decade through the comparative analysis of the genomes from isolates of various DTUs. Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 31 October 2011 Accepted 16 December 2011 Available online xxxx Keywords: Trypanosoma cruzi strainsDiscrete typing unit Genotyping Phylogeography Hybridization Pathology

Contents 1. 2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The concept of discrete typing unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1. The clonal model of evolution in T. cruzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2. Discrete typing units and clonets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....