美国德克萨斯大学西南医学中心Joseph S. Takahashi和Filipa Rijo-Ferreira课题组合作揭示寄生虫存在内在生物钟。该研究于2020年5月15日发表于《科学》。

他们假设寄生虫chabaudi的内在生物钟是小鼠红细胞（RBC）爆发的基础，RBC爆发基于24小时的节律。他们表明，寄生虫节律是灵活的，可以延长以适应具有长昼夜节律的寄主的节律。他们还表明，即使宿主食物摄入量在24小时内均匀分布，疟疾节律仍然存在，这表明不需要宿主进食因素来实现同步化。

此外，他们发现，即使在心律不齐的生物钟突变宿主中，寄生虫群体仍保持同步和节律。因此，他们建议由寄生虫产生的寄生虫节律，来预期其生理环境。

研究人员表示，疟疾节律性发烧是疟疾寄生虫无性细胞周期完成时RBC同步破裂的结果。

附：英文原文

Title: The malaria parasite has an intrinsic clock

Author: Filipa Rijo-Ferreira, Victoria A. Acosta-Rodriguez, John H. Abel, Izabela Kornblum, Ines Bento, Gokhul Kilaru, Elizabeth B. Klerman, Maria M. Mota, Joseph S. Takahashi

Issue&Volume: 2020/05/15

Abstract: Malarial rhythmic fevers are the consequence of the synchronous bursting of red blood cells (RBCs) on completion of the malaria parasite asexual cell cycle. Here, we hypothesized that an intrinsic clock in the parasite Plasmodium chabaudi underlies the 24-hour-based rhythms of RBC bursting in mice. We show that parasite rhythms are flexible and lengthen to match the rhythms of hosts with long circadian periods. We also show that malaria rhythms persist even when host food intake is evenly spread across 24 hours, suggesting that host feeding cues are not required for synchrony. Moreover, we find that the parasite population remains synchronous and rhythmic even in an arrhythmic clock mutant host. Thus, we propose that parasite rhythms are generated by the parasite, possibly to anticipate its circadian environment.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aba2658

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6492/746