TY - JOUR T1 - Genomes of an entire <em>Plasmodium</em> subgenus reveal paths to virulent human malaria JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/095679 SP - 095679 AU - Thomas D. Otto AU - Aude Gilabert AU - Thomas Crellen AU - Ulrike Böhme AU - Céline Arnathau AU - Mandy Sanders AU - Samuel Oyola AU - Alain Prince Okauga AU - Larson Boundenga AU - Eric Wuillaume AU - Barthélémy Ngoubangoye AU - Nancy Diamella Moukodoum AU - Christophe Paupy AU - Patrick Durand AU - Virginie Rougeron AU - Benjamin Ollomo AU - François Renaud AU - Chris Newbold AU - Matthew Berriman AU - Franck Prugnolle Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/12/20/095679.abstract N2 - Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent agent of human malaria, shares a recent common ancestor with the gorilla parasite P. praefalciparum. Although there are further gorilla and chimpanzee-infecting species in the same (Laverania) subgenus as P. falciparum, none are known to be able to establish repeated infection and transmission in humans. To elucidate underlying mechanisms and the evolutionary history of this subgenus, we have analysed multiple genomes from all known Laverania species. Here we estimate the timings of Laverania speciation events, placing P. falciparum speciation 40,000-60,000 years ago followed by a recent population bottleneck. We show that interspecific gene transfers as well as convergent evolution were important in the evolution of these species. Striking copy number and structural variations were observed within gene families and for the first time, features in P. falciparum are revealed that made it the only member of the Laverania able to infect and spread in humans. ER -