Genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium hominis in a Bangladeshi community as revealed by whole genome sequencing.

Authors: Gilchrist, Carol A and Cotton, James A and Burkey, Cecelia and Arju, Tuhinur and Gilmartin, Allissia and Lin, Ye and Ahmed, Emtiaz and Steiner, Kevin and Alam, Masud and Ahmed, Shahnawaz and Robinson, Guy and Zaman, Sultan Uz and Kabir, Mamun and Sanders, Mandy and Chalmers, Rachel M and Ahmed, Tahmeed and Ma, Jennie Z and Haque, Rashidul and Faruque, Abu S G and Berriman, Matthew and Petri, William A

We studied the genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium hominis infections in slum-dwelling infants from Dhaka over a 2-year period. Cryptosporidium hominis infections were common during the monsoon, and were genetically diverse as measured by gp60 genotyping and whole-genome resequencing. Recombination in the parasite was evidenced by the decay of linkage disequilibrium in the genome over <300 bp. Regions of the genome with high levels of polymorphism were also identified. Yet to be determined is if genomic diversity is responsible in part for the high rate of reinfection, seasonality, and varied clinical presentations of cryptosporidiosis in this population.

Journal: The Journal of infectious diseases
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiy121
Year: 2018

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