RNA Analysis for Modulation of aneuploidy in Leishmania donovani during adaptation to different in vitro and in vivo environments, and its impact on gene expression

Purpose: Monitor modulation of aneuploidy in Leishmania donovani during adaptation to different in vitro and in vivo environments, and its impact on gene expression Importance: Aneuploidy is usually detrimental in multicellular organisms, but in several micro-organisms (fungi being the best-studied) it can be tolerated and even beneficial. Leishmania – a protozoan parasite killing more than 30,000 persons each year – is emerging as a new model for aneuploidy studies: unexpectedly high levels of aneuploidy are found in clinical isolates. Leishmania lacks classical regulation of transcription through inducible promoters, so aneuploidy could represent a major adaptive strategy of this parasite to modulate gene dosage in response to stressful environments. For the first time, we document the dynamics of aneuploidy throughout the life cycle of the parasite, in vitro and in vivo. We show its adaptive impact on transcription and its intertwinement with regulation. Besides offering a new model for aneuploidy studies, we show that further genomic studies should be done directly in clinical samples (without parasite isolation) and that adequate methods should be developed for this. RNA profiles of Leishmania donovani strains in different environments. ENA Study accession ERP017437 and BioProject accession PRJEB15610.