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Review
. 2022 Sep;69(5):e1326-e1337.
doi: 10.1111/tbed.14660. Epub 2022 Aug 3.

Leishmania tarentolae: A new frontier in the epidemiology and control of the leishmaniases

Jairo Alfonso Mendoza-Roldan  1 , Jan Votýpka  2   3 , Claudio Bandi  4 , Sara Epis  4 , David Modrý  3   5   6 , Lucie Tichá  2 , Petr Volf  2 , Domenico Otranto  1   7
Affiliations
Review

Leishmania tarentolae: A new frontier in the epidemiology and control of the leishmaniases

Jairo Alfonso Mendoza-Roldan et al. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Leishmaniasis (or the leishmaniases), classified as a neglected tropical parasitic disease, is found in parts of the tropics, subtropics and southern Europe. Leishmania parasites are transmitted by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies and million cases of human infection occur annually. Leishmania tarentolae has been historically considered a non-pathogenic protozoan of reptiles, which has been studied mainly for its potential biotechnological applications. However, some strains of L. tarentolae appear to be transiently infective to mammals. In areas where leishmaniasis is endemic, recent molecular diagnostics and serological positivity to L. tarentolae in humans and dogs have spurred interest in the interactions between these mammalian hosts, reptiles and Leishmania infantum, the main aetiologic agent of human and canine leishmaniasis. In this review, we discuss the systematics and biology of L. tarentolae in the insect vectors and the vertebrate hosts and address questions about evolution of reptilian leishmaniae. Furthermore, we discuss the possible usefulness of L. tarentolae for new vaccination strategies.

Keywords: Leishmania infantum; Leishmania tarentolae; Sauroleishmania; Sergentomyia; leishmaniasis/leishmaniases; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A schematized tree summarizing multiple phylogenetic reconstructions, mostly 18S rRNA gene‐based and showing relationships been monoxenous and heteroxenous (in bold) trypanosomatids and between Leishmania four subgenera
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Sand fly digestive tract and summary Suprapylaria/Peripylaria/Hypopylaria (a) and development of Leishmania tarentolae (b)
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Life cycle of Leishmania tarentolae in vectors and hosts. In reptiles, amastigote‐like forms develop in blood cells, and parasite DNA has been detected in blood and erythropoietic organs. Sand flies ingest infected blood cells and parasites differentiate into promastigote forms and undergo hypopylarian or peripylarian type of development. Possible transmission routes to vertebrate hosts are via sand fly bite, oral ingestion of the fly or contaminative way by prediuresis. Transmission and development in mammals are not known
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Distribution map of Leishmania tarentolae based on isolates and molecular detection in reptiles, sand flies and mammals (Annex 1). Dark green represents confirmed distribution; question mark refers a controversial finding concerns parasites detected in bone marrow and intestinal tissue samples from a 300‐year‐old Brazilian mummy based on a kDNA amplicon matching to L. tarentolae (Novo et al. 2015), which, however, does not agree with the geographical distribution of the subgenus Sauroleishmania
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