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Microorganisms
Volume 13
Issue 2
10.3390/microorganisms13020301
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Communication

Investigation of Virulence-Related Markers in Atypical Strains of Toxoplasma gondii from Brazil

by
Júlia Gatti Ladeia Costa
1,†,
Érica Santos Martins-Duarte
2,†,
Lorena Velozo Pinto
2,
Ramon Araujo de Castro Baraviera
2,
Wagner Martins Fontes do Rego
2 and
Ricardo Wagner de Almeida Vitor
2,*
1
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Ibirité 32412-190, Brazil
2
Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 301; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020301
Submission received: 20 December 2024 / Revised: 17 January 2025 / Accepted: 27 January 2025 / Published: 29 January 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Parasites and Infection: Strategies to Control, Diagnose, and Treat Parasitic Diseases)
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite distributed worldwide that infects a wide range of warm-blooded animals, including humans. Recent studies sought to clarify the relationship between the alleles GRA15, ROP5, ROP16, ROP17, and ROP18 and the virulence of T. gondii isolates in mice. This work aims to analyze the variability of genes that express T. gondii virulence proteins of 103 strains. Most strains were virulent for mice (76/103–73.79%); within these, 30 were 100% lethal, and 46 caused a cumulative mortality range from 20% to 93%. For the GRA15 marker, most strains presenting allele 2 were non-lethal. For the ROP17 marker, allele 4 was associated with mortality, compared to allele 1. For the ROP18 marker, alleles 1 and 4 were associated with mortality, compared to alleles 2 and 3. A combined analysis of alleles showed low cumulative mortality when the strains presented alleles 3 and 1 for ROP18 and ROP16, respectively. On the other hand, allele 4 of ROP17 was a determinant for virulence when associated with ROP18 allele 3 and ROP16 allele 1. Our analysis shows that ROP18 is the primary determinant of the virulence of atypical strains in mice. Additionally, ROP17 genotyping should not be overlooked, as it has proven critical to enhance this prediction.
Keywords: toxoplasmosis; rhoptry proteins; genotyping; cumulative mortality; PCR-RFLP toxoplasmosis; rhoptry proteins; genotyping; cumulative mortality; PCR-RFLP

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MDPI and ACS Style

Costa, J.G.L.; Martins-Duarte, É.S.; Pinto, L.V.; Baraviera, R.A.d.C.; do Rego, W.M.F.; Vitor, R.W.d.A. Investigation of Virulence-Related Markers in Atypical Strains of Toxoplasma gondii from Brazil. Microorganisms 2025, 13, 301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020301

AMA Style

Costa JGL, Martins-Duarte ÉS, Pinto LV, Baraviera RAdC, do Rego WMF, Vitor RWdA. Investigation of Virulence-Related Markers in Atypical Strains of Toxoplasma gondii from Brazil. Microorganisms. 2025; 13(2):301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020301

Chicago/Turabian Style

Costa, Júlia Gatti Ladeia, Érica Santos Martins-Duarte, Lorena Velozo Pinto, Ramon Araujo de Castro Baraviera, Wagner Martins Fontes do Rego, and Ricardo Wagner de Almeida Vitor. 2025. "Investigation of Virulence-Related Markers in Atypical Strains of Toxoplasma gondii from Brazil" Microorganisms 13, no. 2: 301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020301

APA Style

Costa, J. G. L., Martins-Duarte, É. S., Pinto, L. V., Baraviera, R. A. d. C., do Rego, W. M. F., & Vitor, R. W. d. A. (2025). Investigation of Virulence-Related Markers in Atypical Strains of Toxoplasma gondii from Brazil. Microorganisms, 13(2), 301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020301

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