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Updated: Aug 7, 2025

Sexual Transmission of American Trypanosomes from Males and Females to Naive Mates
Published on: January 27, 2019
Indigenous people from Amazon show genetic signatures of pathogen-driven selection
Cainã M Couto-Silva1, Kelly Nunes1, Gabriela Venturini2,3
1Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 05508090, Brazil.
Abstract:
Ecological conditions in the Amazon rainforests are historically favorable for the transmission of numerous tropical diseases, especially vector-borne diseases. The high diversity of pathogens likely contributes to the strong selective pressures for human survival and reproduction in this region. However, the genetic basis of human adaptation to this complex ecosystem remains unclear. This study investigates the possible footprints of genetic adaptation to the Amazon rainforest environment by analyzing the genomic data of 19 native populations. The results based on genomic and functional analysis showed an intense signal of natural selection in a set of genes related to Trypanosoma cruzi infection, which is the pathogen responsible for Chagas disease, a neglected tropical parasitic disease native to the Americas that is currently spreading worldwide.
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