caa a22 4500 445820993 CHVBK 20180317145244.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20111201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00239-011-9476-x doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00239-011-9476-x A Revised Timeline for the Origin of Plasmodium falciparum as a Human Pathogen [Elektronische Daten] [Jason Baron, John Higgins, Walter Dzik] While Plasmodium falciparum is known to have had a strong effect on human evolution, the time period when P. falciparum first infected ancestors of modern humans has remained uncertain. Recent advances demonstrated that P. falciparum evolved from ancestors of gorilla parasites via host switching. Here, we estimate the range of dates during which this host switch may have occurred. DNA sequences of portions of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene obtained from gorilla parasites closely related to human P. falciparum were aligned and compared against similar sequences from human P. falciparum. Time estimates were calculated by applying a previously established parasite cytochrome b gene mutation rate (0.012 mutations per site per million years) and by modeling uncertainty in a Monte-Carlo simulation. We estimate a 95% confidence interval for when P. falciparum first infected ancestors of modern humans to be 112,000 and 1,036,000years ago (median estimate, 365,000years ago). This confidence interval suggests that P. falciparum first infected human ancestors much more recently than the previous recognized estimate of 2.5million years ago. The revised estimate may inform our understanding of certain aspects of human-malaria co-evolution. For example, this revised date suggests a closer relationship between the entry of P. falciparum in humans and the appearance of many red blood cell polymorphisms considered to be genetic adaptations to malaria. In addition, the confidence interval lies within the timeframe dating the dawn of Homo sapiens, suggesting that P. falciparum may have undergone host switching as a Plasmodia adaptation specific for our species. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2011 Plasmodium falciparum nationallicence P. falciparum nationallicence Molecular clock nationallicence Malaria nationallicence Evolution nationallicence Host switch nationallicence Malarial anthropophily nationallicence Baron Jason Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Room GRJ-235, 55 Fruit Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut Higgins John Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Room GRJ-235, 55 Fruit Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut Dzik Walter Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Room GRJ-235, 55 Fruit Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut Journal of Molecular Evolution Springer-Verlag 73/5-6(2011-12-01), 297-304 0022-2844 73:5-6<297 2011 73 239 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-011-9476-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-011-9476-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Baron Jason Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Room GRJ-235, 55 Fruit Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Higgins John Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Room GRJ-235, 55 Fruit Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dzik Walter Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Room GRJ-235, 55 Fruit Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Molecular Evolution Springer-Verlag 73/5-6(2011-12-01), 297-304 0022-2844 73:5-6<297 2011 73 239 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer