Abstract
Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of waterborne outbreaks globally, and Cryptosporidium hominis and C. parvum are the principal cause of human cryptosporidiosis on the planet. Thanks to the advances in Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) sequencing and bioinformatic software development, more than 100 genomes have been generated in the last decade using a metagenomic-like strategy. This procedure involves the parasite oocyst enrichment from stool samples of infected individuals, NGS sequencing, metagenomic assembly, parasite genome computational filtering, and comparative genomic analysis. Following this approach, genomes of infected individuals of all continents have been generated, although with striking different quality results. In this study, we performed a thorough comparison, in terms of assembly quality and purity, of 100+ de novo assembled genomes of C. hominis. Remarkably, after quality genome filtering, a comprehensive phylogenomic analysis allowed us to discover that C. hominis encompasses two lineages with continental segregation. These lineages were named based on the observed continental distribution bias as C. hominis Euro-American (EA) and the C. hominis Afro-Asian (AA) lineages.
Highlights
Cryptosporidium is a ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite with gastrointestinal habitat and a broad range of vertebrate hosts, including humans, other mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles (Zahedi and Ryan, 2020)
According to the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS), Cryptosporidium was the second cause of moderate-to-severe diarrhea in children from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia countries; and this infection increased the risk of death in children aged 12–23 months (Kotloff et al, 2013)
To normalize the analytical conditions for all C. hominis genomes, the processing started with the original raw read data, and they were all assembled using the same strategy
Summary
Cryptosporidium is a ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite with gastrointestinal habitat and a broad range of vertebrate hosts, including humans, other mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles (Zahedi and Ryan, 2020). Cryptosporidium hominis and C. parvum are the preponderant cause of human cryptosporidiosis around the world, with the former being more frequently found in developing nations (Gilchrist et al, 2018; Tichkule et al, 2021). Cryptosporidium oocysts are excreted in feces by symptomatic hosts. In this stage, the parasite is highly resistant to common disinfection methods like chlorination (Cacciò and Chalmers, 2016). The parasite is highly resistant to common disinfection methods like chlorination (Cacciò and Chalmers, 2016) These characteristics might explain why Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of waterborne outbreaks globally (Efstratiou et al, 2017). Depending on the species, the parasite can be transmitted via direct person-to-person contact, indirect (food, water, or fomites), or zoonotic routes (Cacciò and Chalmers, 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
