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MBE Advance Access originally published online on August 4, 2008
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2008 25(10):2233-2239; doi:10.1093/molbev/msn171
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Articles

Big Bang in the Evolution of Extant Malaria Parasites

Toshiyuki Hayakawa*, Richard Culleton*,1, Hiroto Otani*, Toshihiro Horii{dagger} and Kazuyuki Tanabe*

* Laboratory of Malariology, International Research Center of Infectious Diseases, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan
{dagger} Department of Molecular Protozoology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

E-mail: hayakawa{at}biken.osaka-u.ac.jp.

Accepted for publication July 29, 2008.

Malaria parasites (genus Plasmodium) infect all classes of terrestrial vertebrates and display host specificity in their infections. It is therefore assumed that malaria parasites coevolved intimately with their hosts. Here, we propose a novel scenario of malaria parasite–host coevolution. A phylogenetic tree constructed using the malaria parasite mitochondrial genome reveals that the extant primate, rodent, bird, and reptile parasite lineages rapidly diverged from a common ancestor during an evolutionary short time period. This rapid diversification occurred long after the establishment of the primate, rodent, bird, and reptile host lineages, which implies that host-switch events contributed to the rapid diversification of extant malaria parasite lineages. Interestingly, the rapid diversification coincides with the radiation of the mammalian genera, suggesting that adaptive radiation to new mammalian hosts triggered the rapid diversification of extant malaria parasite lineages.

Key Words: malaria parasite • host switch • coevolution

1 Present address: Department of Protozoology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.

Koichiro Tamura, Associate Editor


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