Ongoing host-shift speciation in Plasmodium simium

• DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2021.08.005
• Publication Date: 2021-09-14T12:13:02Z
• Authors: Thaís C. de Oliveira; Priscila T. Rodri...; Ana Maria R.C. Du...; Luísa D.P. Rona; Marcelo U. Ferreira
• Keywords: Genetic algorithm; Plasmodium (life cycle); Host adaptation

Plasmodium simium, a malaria parasite that infects platyrrhine monkeys and humans in the New World, is nearly identical to Plasmodium vivax. Recent genomic comparative analyses of these sister species have identified elevated divergence in a gene that may underlie P. simium adaptation to non-human primates during its gradual speciation process.