Plasmodium gaboni
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Plasmodium gaboni | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Sar |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Aconoidasida |
| Order: | Haemospororida |
| Family: | Plasmodiidae |
| Genus: | Plasmodium |
| Species: | P. gaboni |
| Binomial name | |
| Plasmodium gaboni Ollomo et al., 2009 | |
Plasmodium gaboni is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Laverania.
P. gaboni was given its name in reference to Gabon, where the parasite was discovered in two wild-borne chimpanzees kept as pets in villages in that country. Plasmodium gaboni is phylogenetically very close to Plasmodium billbrayi.[1]
In 2009, Ollomo et al. published the complete mitochondrial genome of Plasmodium gaboni, which was not yet named at the time. The parasite belongs to the P falciparum/P reichenowi lineage. It has been proposed that Plasmodium gaboni diverged from the P falciparum/P reichenowi lineage about 21 million years ago, leading to the conclusion that the ancestor of this parasite clade could have been already present in hominid ancestors.[1] Plasmodium gaboni is 10-fold more diverse than human parasite Plasmodium falciparum, indicating a very recent origin of the latter.[2] Plasmodium gaboni is similar to both Plasmodium falciparum and to Plasmodium reichenowi in microscopic studies, seeming likely that all of these ape Laverania parasites represent morphologically indistinguishable species.[2]
Distribution
Plasmodium gaboni can be found in western Africa.[1]
