Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse

Virulence in the ubiquitous intracellular protozoon Toxoplasma gondii for its natural intermediate host, the mouse, appears paradoxical from an evolutionary standpoint because death of the mouse before encystment interrupts the parasite life cycle. Virulent T. gondii strains secrete kinases and pseu...

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Main Authors:	Jingtao Lilue, Urs Benedikt Müller, Tobias Steinfeldt, Jonathan C Howard
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2013-10-01
Series:	eLife
Subjects:	Toxoplasma gondii IRG protein coevolution virulence
Online Access:	https://elifesciences.org/articles/01298

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spelling	doaj-f2254b4ad77f4f59ade3b7303e0007e92021-05-04T22:33:48ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2013-10-01210.7554/eLife.01298Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouseJingtao Lilue0Urs Benedikt Müller1Tobias Steinfeldt2Jonathan C Howard3Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, GermanyInstitute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, GermanyInstitute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, GermanyInstitute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany; Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, PortugalVirulence in the ubiquitous intracellular protozoon Toxoplasma gondii for its natural intermediate host, the mouse, appears paradoxical from an evolutionary standpoint because death of the mouse before encystment interrupts the parasite life cycle. Virulent T. gondii strains secrete kinases and pseudokinases that inactivate the immunity-related GTPases (IRG proteins) responsible for mouse resistance to avirulent strains. Such considerations stimulated a search for IRG alleles unknown in laboratory mice that might confer resistance to virulent strains of T. gondii. We report that the mouse IRG system shows extraordinary polymorphic complexity in the wild. We describe an IRG haplotype from a wild-derived mouse strain that confers resistance against virulent parasites by interference with the virulent kinase complex. In such hosts virulent strains can encyst, hinting at an explanation for the evolution of virulence polymorphism in T. gondii.https://elifesciences.org/articles/01298Toxoplasma gondiiIRG proteincoevolutionvirulence
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Jingtao Lilue Urs Benedikt Müller Tobias Steinfeldt Jonathan C Howard
spellingShingle	Jingtao Lilue Urs Benedikt Müller Tobias Steinfeldt Jonathan C Howard Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse eLife Toxoplasma gondii IRG protein coevolution virulence
author_facet	Jingtao Lilue Urs Benedikt Müller Tobias Steinfeldt Jonathan C Howard
author_sort	Jingtao Lilue
title	Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse
title_short	Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse
title_full	Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse
title_fullStr	Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse
title_full_unstemmed	Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse
title_sort	reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse
publisher	eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
series	eLife
issn	2050-084X
publishDate	2013-10-01
description	Virulence in the ubiquitous intracellular protozoon Toxoplasma gondii for its natural intermediate host, the mouse, appears paradoxical from an evolutionary standpoint because death of the mouse before encystment interrupts the parasite life cycle. Virulent T. gondii strains secrete kinases and pseudokinases that inactivate the immunity-related GTPases (IRG proteins) responsible for mouse resistance to avirulent strains. Such considerations stimulated a search for IRG alleles unknown in laboratory mice that might confer resistance to virulent strains of T. gondii. We report that the mouse IRG system shows extraordinary polymorphic complexity in the wild. We describe an IRG haplotype from a wild-derived mouse strain that confers resistance against virulent parasites by interference with the virulent kinase complex. In such hosts virulent strains can encyst, hinting at an explanation for the evolution of virulence polymorphism in T. gondii.
topic	Toxoplasma gondii IRG protein coevolution virulence
url	https://elifesciences.org/articles/01298
work_keys_str_mv	AT jingtaolilue reciprocalvirulenceandresistancepolymorphismintherelationshipbetweentoxoplasmagondiiandthehousemouse AT ursbenediktmuller reciprocalvirulenceandresistancepolymorphismintherelationshipbetweentoxoplasmagondiiandthehousemouse AT tobiassteinfeldt reciprocalvirulenceandresistancepolymorphismintherelationshipbetweentoxoplasmagondiiandthehousemouse AT jonathanchoward reciprocalvirulenceandresistancepolymorphismintherelationshipbetweentoxoplasmagondiiandthehousemouse
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Reciprocal virulence and resistance polymorphism in the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and the house mouse

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