@article{fdi:010062409,
  title = {{H}ow often do they have sex ? {A} comparative analysis of the population structure of seven eukaryotic microbial pathogens},
  author = {{T}omasini, {N}. and {L}authier, {J}. {J}. and {A}yala, {F}. {J}. and {T}ibayrenc, {M}ichel and {D}iosque, {P}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he model of predominant clonal evolution ({PCE}) proposed for micropathogens does not state that genetic exchange is totally absent, but rather, that it is too rare to break the prevalent {PCE} pattern. {H}owever, the actual impact of this "residual' genetic exchange should be evaluated. {M}ultilocus {S}equence {T}yping ({MLST}) is an excellent tool to explore the problem. {H}ere, we compared online available {MLST} datasets for seven eukaryotic microbial pathogens: {T}rypanosoma cruzi, the {F}usarium solani complex, {A}spergillus fumigatus, {B}lastocystis subtype 3, the {L}eishmania donovani complex, {C}andida albicans and {C}andida glabrata. {W}e first analyzed phylogenetic relationships among genotypes within each dataset. {T}hen, we examined different measures of branch support and incongruence among loci as signs of genetic structure and levels of past recombination. {T}he analyses allow us to identify three types of genetic structure. {T}he first was characterized by trees with well-supported branches and low levels of incongruence suggesting well-structured populations and {PCE}. {T}his was the case for the {T}. cruzi and {F}. solani datasets. {T}he second genetic structure, represented by {B}lastocystis spp., {A}. fumigatus and the {L}. donovani complex datasets, showed trees with weakly-supported branches but low levels of incongruence among loci, whereby genetic structuration was not clearly defined by {MLST}. {F}inally, trees showing weakly-supported branches and high levels of incongruence among loci were observed for {C}andida species, suggesting that genetic exchange has a higher evolutionary impact in these mainly clonal yeast species. {F}urthermore, simulations showed that {MLST} may fail to show right clustering in population datasets even in the absence of genetic exchange. {I}n conclusion, these results make it possible to infer variable impacts of genetic exchange in populations of predominantly clonal micro-pathogens. {M}oreover, our results reveal different problems of {MLST} to determine the genetic structure in these organisms that should be considered.},
  keywords = {},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}los {O}ne},
  volume = {9},
  numero = {7},
  pages = {e103131},
  ISSN = {1932-6203},
  year = {2014},
  DOI = {10.1371/journal.pone.0103131},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010062409},
}