Laverania

{{Short description|Subgenus of single-celled organisms}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Laverania | image = Plasmodium falciparum macrogametocyte 5942 lores.jpg |image_alt=Photomicrograph of blood smear | image_caption = Macrogametocyte of ''Plasmodium falciparum'' | authority = Bray, 1958 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text }}

'''''Laverania''''' is a subgenus of the parasite genus ''Plasmodium''. Infection with these species results in malaria. The subgenus was first described in 1958.<ref name=Bray1958>{{cite journal |author=Bray R.S. |title=Studies on malaria in chimpanzees. VI. ''Laverania falciparum'' |journal=Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=20–24 |year=1958 |doi=10.4269/ajtmh.1958.7.20 |pmid=13508992 }}</ref>

The name was first proposed by Welch in 1897 as a genus name for the group now known as ''Plasmodium'' but for a variety of reasons{{specify|date=May 2025}} the genus name ''Plasmodium'' was preferred.

== Taxonomy ==

The first non-human primate parasites were described by Eduard Reichenow in Cameroon in 1920. He observed three morphologically distinct ''Plasmodium'' parasites in the blood of chimpanzees and gorillas in 1917.<ref name="Reichenow1920">{{cite journal |author=Reichenow E. |title=Über das Vorkommen der Malariaparasiten des Menschen bei den Afrikanischen Menschenaffen |journal=Centralbl. F. Bakt. I. Abt. Orig. |volume=85 |pages=207–221 |year=1920 }}</ref> These finding were later confirmed by other workers.<ref name="Blacklock1922">{{cite journal |author1=Blacklock B. |author2=Adler S. |title=A parasite resembling ''Plasmodium falciparum'' in a chimpanzee |journal=Ann. Trop. Med. Parasitol. |volume=XVI |pages=99–107 |year=1922 |doi=10.1080/00034983.1922.11684303 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/345713 }}</ref><ref name="Adler1923">{{cite journal |author=Adler, S. |title=Malaria in chimpanzees in Sierra Leone |journal=Ann. Trop. Med. Parasitol. |volume=17 |pages=13–19 |year=1923 |doi=10.1080/00034983.1923.11684345 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/345652 }}</ref> One species closely resembled ''P. falciparum'' and was thought to be the same species. This species was later renamed ''P. reichenowi''.<ref name="Coatney1971">{{cite book |first=G.R. |last=Coatney |author2=National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases |title=The primate malarias |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sidRhVXW1MC |year=1971 |publisher=U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases}}</ref>

The other two species — ''P. rhodaini'' and ''P. schwetzi'' — have since been placed in the subgenus ''Plasmodium''.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

The noticeable differences between ''P. falciparum'' and the other known ''Plasmodium'' species led to the proposal that it be placed in a separate genus ''Laverania''.<ref name="Bray1958" /> This suggestion was not accepted but the proposed name is now used as the subgenus.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

=== Species ===

It has been proposed to rename ''P. gora'' and ''P. gorb'' as ''Plasmodium adleri'' and ''Plasmodium blacklocki'' respectively.<ref name="Rayner2011">{{cite journal |vauthors=Rayner JC, Liu W, Peeters M, Sharp PM, Hahn BH |title=A plethora of Plasmodium species in wild apes: a source of human infection? |journal=Trends Parasitol. |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=222–9 |date=May 2011 |pmid=21354860 |pmc=3087880 |doi=10.1016/j.pt.2011.01.006 }}</ref> It has also been proposed that ''P. billbrayi'' be considered a junior synonym of ''P. gaboni''.<ref name="Rayner2011" />

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em| * ''Plasmodium billcollinsi'' * ''Plasmodium billbrayi'' * ''Plasmodium falciparum'' * ''Plasmodium gaboni'' * ''Plasmodium gora'' * ''Plasmodium gorb'' * '''Plasmodium lomamiensis'' * ''Plasmodium reichenowi'' }}

The full genomes of the seven species are now sequenced<ref name="otto2018">{{cite journal |vauthors=Otto TD, Gilabert A, Crellen T, Böhme U, Arnathau C, Sanders M, Oyola SO, Okouga AP, Boundenga L, Willaume E, Ngoubangoye B, Moukodoum ND, Paupy C, Durand P, Rougeron V, Ollomo B, Renaud F, Newbold C, Berriman M, Prugnolle F |title=Genomes of all known members of a Plasmodium subgenus reveal paths to virulent human malaria |journal=Nature Microbiology |volume=3 |issue=6 |pages=687–97 |date=June 2018 |pmid=29784978 |pmc=5985962 |doi=10.1038/s41564-018-0162-2 }}</ref> and available on [http://PlasmoDB.org PlasmoDB].

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{cite web |title=''Plasmodium (Laverania)'' |work=NCBI Taxonomy Browser |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=418107 |id=418107}}

Category:Plasmodium subgenera Category:Taxa described in 1958