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Primate malarias: Diversity, distribution and insights for zoonotic Plasmodium
Protozoans within the genus Plasmodium are well-known as the causative agents of malaria in humans. Numerous Plasmodium species parasites also infect a wide range of non-human primate hosts in tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. Studying this diversity can provide critical insight into our understanding of human malarias, as several human malaria species are a result of host switches from non-human primates. Current spillover of a monkey malaria, Plasmodium knowlesi, in Southeast Asia highlights the permeability of species barriers in Plasmodium. Also recently, surveys of apes in Africa uncovered a previously undescribed diversity of Plasmodium in chimpanzees and gorillas. Therefore, we carried out a meta-analysis to quantify the global distribution, host range, and diversity of known non-human primate malaria species. We used published records of Plasmodium parasites found in non-human primates to estimate the total diversity of non-human primate malarias globally. We estimate that at least three undescribed primate malaria species exist in sampled primates, and many more likely exist in unstudied species. The diversity of malaria parasites is especially uncertain in regions of low sampling such as Madagascar, and taxonomic groups such as African Old World Monkeys and gibbons. Presence–absence data of malaria across primates enables us to highlight the close association of forested regions and non-human primate malarias. This distribution potentially reflects a long coevolution of primates, forest-adapted mosquitoes, and malaria parasites. The diversity and distribution of primate malaria are an essential prerequisite to understanding the mechanisms and circumstances that allow Plasmodium to jump species barriers, both in the evolution of malaria parasites and current cases of spillover into humans
Routing Physarum with electrical flow/current
Plasmodium stage of Physarum polycephalum behaves as a distributed dynamical
pattern formation mechanism who's foraging and migration is influenced by local
stimuli from a wide range of attractants and repellents. Complex protoplasmic
tube network structures are formed as a result, which serve as efficient
`circuits' by which nutrients are distributed to all parts of the organism. We
investigate whether this `bottom-up' circuit routing method may be harnessed in
a controllable manner as a possible alternative to conventional template-based
circuit design. We interfaced the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum to the
planar surface of the spatially represented computing device, (Mills' Extended
Analog Computer, or EAC), implemented as a sheet of analog computing material
whose behaviour is input and read by a regular 5x5 array of electrodes. We
presented a pattern of current distribution to the array and found that we were
able to select the directional migration of the plasmodium growth front by
exploiting plasmodium electro-taxis towards current sinks. We utilised this
directional guidance phenomenon to route the plasmodium across its habitat and
were able to guide the migration around obstacles represented by repellent
current sources. We replicated these findings in a collective particle model of
Physarum polycephalum which suggests further methods to orient, route, confine
and release the plasmodium using spatial patterns of current sources and sinks.
These findings demonstrate proof of concept in the low-level dynamical routing
for biologically implemented circuit design
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