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Pathogens
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Protists as Pathogens
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Protists as Pathogens

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 3290

Special Issue Editors

Dr. David Leitsch

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Interests: anaerobic protists; chemotherapy; parasitology
Dr. Martina Köhsler

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Interests: parasites; molecular biology; Acanthamoeba spp.

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Apart from being fascinating and often wondrously beautiful organisms, protists also pose a considerable threat to human and animal health. Indeed, one of the oldest scourges of mankind, the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is a protist and still ranks as one of the major causes of death worldwide. Additionally, a large number of other protist parasites such as Leishmania spp., Trypanosoma spp., and Entamoeba histolytica cause great suffering in many parts of the world. Despite being microbes, protists are much more closely related to their hosts than to bacteria, thereby complicating treatment because most antibiotics used against bacteria are ineffective against protists. Furthermore, protist parasites have proven elusive to vaccines, limiting our arsenal of preventive measures. It is therefore of prime importance to understand the biology of protist parasites and to use this knowledge for the development of treatment options. On the other hand, it would be too short-sighted to view these organisms from a medical standpoint only. Protist parasites can also teach us about fundamental processes of life. For example, RNA editing, a central genetic mechanism in eukaryotes, was first described in the causative agent of Nagana disease, Trypanosoma brucei. The same parasite is also frequently studied by cell biologists because it only possesses one large mitochondrion, enabling insightful research on mitochondrial function. 

Thus, the rewards of doing research on protist parasites are manifold and we invite you to submit original research, review articles, short notes, or communications dealing with pathogenic protists for this Special Issue of Pathogens.

Dr. David Leitsch
Dr. Martina Köhsler
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • protists
  • pathogens
  • microbiology
  • parasites
  • human and animal health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1440 KiB  
Article
Cell Death of P. vivax Blood Stages Occurs in Absence of Classical Apoptotic Events and Induces Eryptosis of Parasitized Host Cells
by Carolina Moreira Blanco, Hugo Amorim dos Santos de Souza, Priscilla da Costa Martins, Juliana Almeida-Silva, Ana Marcia Suarez-Fontes, Yury Oliveira Chaves, Marcos André Vannier-Santos, Lilian Rose Pratt-Riccio, Cláudio Tadeu Daniel-Ribeiro, Stefanie Costa Pinto Lopes and Paulo Renato Rivas Totino
Pathogens 2024, 13(8), 673; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13080673 - 9 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Elucidation of pathways regulating parasite cell death is believed to contribute to identification of novel therapeutic targets for protozoan diseases, and in this context, apoptosis-like cell death has been reported in different groups of protozoa, in which metacaspases seem to play a role. [...] Read more.
Elucidation of pathways regulating parasite cell death is believed to contribute to identification of novel therapeutic targets for protozoan diseases, and in this context, apoptosis-like cell death has been reported in different groups of protozoa, in which metacaspases seem to play a role. In the genus Plasmodium, apoptotic markers have been detected in P. falciparum and P. berghei, and no study focusing on P. vivax cell death has been reported so far. In the present study, we investigated the susceptibility of P. vivax to undergo apoptotic cell death after incubating mature trophozoites with the classical apoptosis inducer staurosporine. As assessed by flow cytometry assays, staurosporine inhibited parasite intraerythrocytic development, which was accompanied by a decrease in cell viability, evidenced by reduced plasmodial mitochondrial activity. However, typical signs of apoptosis, such as DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and nuclear segregation, were not detected in the parasites induced to cell death, and no significant alteration in metacaspase gene expression (PvMCA1) was observed under cell death stimulus. Interestingly, dying parasites positively modulated cell death (eryptosis) of host erythrocytes, which was marked by externalization of phosphatidylserine and cell shrinkage. Our study shows for the time that P. vivax blood stages may not be susceptible to apoptosis-like processes, while they could trigger eryptosis of parasitized cells by undergoing cell death. Further studies are required to elucidate the cellular machinery involved in cell death of P. vivax parasites as well as in the modulation of host cell death. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protists as Pathogens)
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11 pages, 1217 KiB  
Article
Diversity of Free-Living Amoebae in New Zealand Groundwater and Their Ability to Feed on Legionella pneumophila
by Sujani Ariyadasa, Sophie van Hamelsveld, William Taylor, Susan Lin, Panan Sitthirit, Liping Pang, Craig Billington and Louise Weaver
Pathogens 2024, 13(8), 665; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13080665 - 7 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Free-living amoebae (FLA) are common in both natural and engineered freshwater ecosystems. They play important roles in biofilm control and contaminant removal through the predation of bacteria and other taxa. Bacterial predation by FLA is also thought to contribute to pathogen dispersal and [...] Read more.
Free-living amoebae (FLA) are common in both natural and engineered freshwater ecosystems. They play important roles in biofilm control and contaminant removal through the predation of bacteria and other taxa. Bacterial predation by FLA is also thought to contribute to pathogen dispersal and infectious disease transmission in freshwater environments via the egestion of viable bacteria. Despite their importance in shaping freshwater microbial communities, the diversity and function of FLA in many freshwater ecosystems are poorly understood. In this study, we isolated and characterized FLA from two groundwater sites in Canterbury, New Zealand using microbiological, microscopic, and molecular techniques. Different methods for groundwater FLA isolation and enrichment were trialed and optimized. The ability of these isolated FLA to predate on human pathogen Legionella pneumophila was assessed. FLA were identified by 18S metagenomic amplicon sequencing. Our study showed that Acanthamoeba spp. (including A. polyphaga) and Vermamoeba veriformis were the main FLA species present in both groundwater sites examined. While most of the isolated FLA co-existed with L. pneumophila, the FLA populations in the L. pneumophila co-culture experiments predominantly consisted of A. polyphaga, Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria spp., V. vermiformis, Paravahlkampfia spp., and Echinamoeba spp. These observations suggest that FLA may have the potential to act as reservoirs for L. pneumophila in Canterbury, New Zealand groundwater systems and could be introduced into the local drinking water infrastructure, where they may promote the survival, multiplication, and dissemination of Legionella. This research addresses an important gap in our understanding of FLA-mediated pathogen dispersal in freshwater ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protists as Pathogens)
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