''Laverania'' is a subgenus of the parasite 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 blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a ver ...
''. Infection with these species results in
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
. 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 ''Plasmodium'' but for a variety of reasons the genus name ''Plasmodium'' was preferred.
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Taxonomy
The first non-human primate parasites were described by
Eduard Reichenow
Johann Eduard Reichenow (7 July 1883 – 23 March 1960) was a German protozoologist. He was the son of ornithologist Anton Reichenow.
Biography
Reichenow was born in Berlin. He studied natural sciences in Heidelberg, Berlin and Munich, and ...
in Cameroon in 1920. He observed three morphologically distinct ''Plasmodium'' parasites in the blood of
chimpanzees and
gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
s in 1917.
These finding were later confirmed by other workers.
One species closely resembled ''P. falciparum'' and was thought to be the same species. This species was later renamed ''P. reichenowi''.
The other two species — ''P. rhodaini'' and ''P. schwetzi'' — have since been placed in the subgenus ''Plasmodium''.
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''.
This suggestion was not accepted but the proposed name is now used as the subgenus.
Species
It has been proposed to rename ''P. gora'' and ''P. gorb'' as ''
Plasmodium adleri
''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 ...
'' and ''
Plasmodium blacklocki'' respectively.
It has also been proposed that ''P. billbrayi'' be considered a junior synonym of ''P. gaboni''.
The full genomes of the seven species are now sequenced
and available o
PlasmoDB
References
Plasmodium subgenera
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