Stress conditions promote <i>Leishmania</i> hybridization in vitro marked by expression of the ancestral gamete fusogen HAP2 as revealed by single-cell RNA-seq.

Abstract

<i>Leishmania</i> are protozoan parasites transmitted by the bite of sand fly vectors producing a wide spectrum of diseases in their mammalian hosts. These diverse clinical outcomes are directly associated with parasite strain and species diversity. Although <i>Leishmania</i> reproduction is mainly clonal, a cryptic sexual cycle capable of producing hybrid genotypes has been inferred from population genetic studies and directly demonstrated by laboratory crosses. Experimentally, mating competence has been largely confined to promastigotes developing in the sand fly midgut. The ability to hybridize culture promastigotes in vitro has been limited so far to low-efficiency crosses between two <i>Leishmania tropica</i> strains, L747 and MA37, that mate with high efficiency in flies. Here, we show that exposure of promastigote cultures to DNA damage stress produces a remarkably enhanced efficiency of in vitro hybridization of the <i>L. tropica</i> strains and extends to other species, including <i>Leishmania donovani, Leishmania infantum,</i> and <i>Leishmania braziliensis</i>, a capacity to generate intra- and interspecific hybrids. Whole-genome sequencing and total DNA content analyses indicate that the hybrids are in each case full genome, mostly tetraploid hybrids. Single-cell RNA sequencing of the L747 and MA37 parental lines highlights the transcriptome heterogeneity of culture promastigotes and reveals discrete clusters that emerge post-irradiation in which genes potentially involved in genetic exchange are expressed, including the ancestral gamete fusogen <i>HAP2</i>. By generating reporter constructs for HAP2, we could select for promastigotes that could either hybridize or not in vitro. Overall, this work reveals that there are specific populations involved in <i>Leishmania</i> hybridization associated with a discernible transcriptomic signature, and that stress facilitated in vitro hybridization can be a transformative approach to generate large numbers of hybrid genotypes between diverse species and strains.