''Plasmodium billbrayi'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a Hematophagy, blood-feeding insect host (biology), host which then inj ...

'' subgenus ''

Laverania ''Laverania'' is a subgenus of the parasite genus ''Plasmodium''. Infection with these species results in malaria. The subgenus was first described in 1958. The name was first proposed by Welch in 1897 as a genus name for the group now known as ...

''. ''P. billbrayi'' is

phylogenetically In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical data ...

very close to ''

Plasmodium gaboni ''Plasmodium gaboni'' is a parasite of the genus ''Plasmodium'' subgenus '' Laverania''. ''P. gaboni'' was given its name in reference to Gabon, where the parasite was discovered in two wild-borne chimpanzees kept as pets in villages in that c ...

'', with both sharing a recent common ancestor. The parasite is named in honour of the distinguished malariologist “Bill” Robert Stow Bray (1923–2008).

Taxonomy

''Plasmodium billbrayi'' was first described along with '' Plasmodium billcollinsi'' by Krief ''et al.'' in February 2010, by sequencing the whole ''Plasmodium'' mitochondrial genome in chimpanzees.

Distribution

This species is found in East Africa.

Hosts

''Plasmodium billbrayi'' infects common chimpanzees (''Pan troglodytes'') and Eastern chimpanzees (''Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii'').

References

billbrayi Apicomplexa species {{plasmodium-stub

Taxonomy

Distribution

Hosts

See also

References