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Can mutation and selection explain virulence in human P. falciparum infections?
Ian M Hastings1, S Paget-McNicol, A Saul
1Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK. hastings@liverpool.ac.uk
Background:
Parasites incur periodic mutations which must ultimately be eliminated to maintain their genetic integrity.
Methods:
It is hypothesised that these mutations are eliminated not by the conventional mechanisms of competition between parasites in different hosts but primarily by competition between parasites within the same infection.
Results:
This process is enhanced by the production of a large number of parasites within individual infections, and this may significantly contribute to parasitic virulence.
Conclusions:
Several features of the most virulent human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum can usefully be re-interpreted in this light and lend support to this interpretation. More generally, it constitutes a novel explanation for the evolution of virulence in a wider range of microparasites.