Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

Quantification of Intracellular Growth Inside Macrophages is a Fast and Reliable Method for Assessing the Virulence of Leishmania Parasites
Published on: March 16, 2018
Adaptive mechanisms in pathogens: universal aneuploidy in Leishmania
An Mannaert1, Tim Downing, Hideo Imamura
1Unit of Molecular Parasitology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
Abstract:
Genomic stability and maintenance of the correct chromosome number are assumed to be essential for normal development in eukaryotes. Aneuploidy is usually associated with severe abnormalities and decrease of cell fitness, but some organisms appear to rely on aneuploidy for rapid adaptation to changing environments. This phenomenon is mostly described in pathogenic fungi and cancer cells. However, recent genome studies highlight the importance of Leishmania as a new model for studies on aneuploidy. Several reports revealed extensive variation in chromosome copy number, indicating that aneuploidy is a constitutive feature of this protozoan parasite genus. Aneuploidy appears to be beneficial in organisms that are primarily asexual, unicellular, and that undergo sporadic epidemic expansions, including common pathogens as well as cancer.
Related Concept Videos
Nondisjunction
Nondisjunction
Microbial Interactions: Parasitism
Mismatch Repair
The Mutator Protein Family Plays a Key Role in DNA Mismatch Repair
The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA per cell. Prior to cell division, that vast amount of genetic...
Mismatch Repair
Colonisation of Pathogens

