Nathalia Rammé Medeiros de Albuquerque holds a BA in Biomedical sciences (2018) from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), where she also obtained a PhD (2022) in Genetics and Molecular Biology. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Parasitology at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of São Paulo (ICBII-USP).
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Parasitology, Genetics, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
7
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
The Source-Sink Dynamics of Plasmodium vivax May Undermine Malaria Elimination Efforts in the Amazon: An Epidemiological and Population Genomic Study Nathalia Rammé M de Albuquerque, Rodrigo M Corder, Igor C Johansen, Winni A Ladeia, Priscila T Rodrigues, Simone Ladeia-Andrade, Joana C Silva, Marcelo U Ferreira Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2026 Background Brazil's progress toward malaria elimination has stalled and 163 000 new cases (more than 80% caused by Plasmodium vivax) were recorded in the Brazilian Amazon in 2023. We hypothesize that human mobility continues to disperse parasites from hotspots to areas with decreasing endemicity. Methods We analyzed 5.5 million malaria case notifications between 2003 and 2023 to describe malaria case mobility and identify sources and sinks of P. vivax in the Brazilian Amazon. We leveraged whole-genome sequence data from 408 P. vivax isolates sampled from across South America to characterize parasite gene flow and infer likely regional routes of parasite dispersal. Results We found that nearly one-third of the P. vivax infections diagnosed in residents in the Brazilian Amazon over 21 years were acquired outside the locality or municipality of residence, but only 1.7% were imported from other countries in South America, mostly from the Guiana Shield. We show that large cities with residual malaria transmission—such as Manaus and Porto Velho—are receptive parasite sinks surrounded by high-risk source rural localities. Although the genetic relatedness of parasites tended to decrease with geographic distance, parasites from sites more than 1000 km apart often remained genetically connected. Conclusions Understanding parasite source-sink dynamics on different geographic scales is crucial to target high-risk mobile populations and source localities along with receptive sinks within low-transmission municipalities, with the goal of eliminating malaria transmission and preventing its reintroduction into malaria-free areas.
Plasmodium simium: Birth and evolution of a zoonotic malaria parasite species Nathalia Rammé M. de Albuquerque, Winni A. Ladeia, Ryan J. Scalsky, Ankit Dwivedi, Thomas C. Stabler, Priscila T. Rodrigues, Thaís C. de Oliveira, Joana C. Silva, Marcelo U. Ferreira Parasitology, 2025 Plasmodium simium, a parasite of platyrrhine monkeys, is known to cause human malaria outbreaks in Southeast Brazil. It has been hypothesized that, upon the introduction of Plasmodium vivax into the Americas at the time of the European colonization, the human parasite adapted to neotropical anophelines of the Kerteszia subgenus and to local monkeys, along the Atlantic coast of Brazil, to give rise to a sister species, P. simium. Here, to obtain new insights into the origins and adaptation of P. simium to new hosts, we analysed whole-genome sequence (WGS) data from 31 P. simium isolates together with a global sequence dataset of 1086 P. vivax isolates. Population genomic analyses revealed that P. simium comprises a discrete parasite lineage with greatest genetic similarity to P. vivax populations from Latin America – especially those from the Amazon Basin of Brazil – and to ancient European P. vivax isolates, consistent with Brazil as the most likely birthplace of the species. We show that P. simium displays half the amount of nucleotide diversity of P. vivax from Latin America, as expected from its recent origin. We identified pairs of sympatric P. simium isolates from monkeys and from humans as closely related as meiotic half-siblings, revealing ongoing zoonotic transmission of P. simium. Most critically, we show that P. simium currently causes most, and possibly all, malarial infections usually attributed to P. vivax along the Serra do Mar Mountain Range of Southeast Brazil.
Using average nucleotide identity (ANI) to evaluate microsporidia species boundaries based on their genetic relatedness Nathalia R. M. de Albuquerque, Karen L. Haag Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 2023 Microsporidia are obligatory intracellular parasites related to fungi and since their discovery their classification and origin has been controversial due to their unique morphology. Early taxonomic studies of microsporidia were based on ultrastructural spore features, characteristics of their life cycle and transmission modes. However, taxonomy and phylogeny based solely on these characteristics can be misleading. SSU rRNA is a traditional marker used in taxonomical classifications, but the power of SSU rRNA to resolve phylogenetic relationships between microsporidia is considered weak at the species level, as it may not show enough variation to distinguish closely related species. Overall genome relatedness indices (OGRI), such as average nucleotide identity (ANI), allows fast and easy‐to‐implement comparative measurements between genomes to assess species boundaries in prokaryotes, with a 95% cutoff value for grouping genomes of the same species. Due to the increasing availability of complete genomes, metrics of genome relatedness have been applied for eukaryotic microbes taxonomy such as microsporidia. However, the distribution of ANI values and cutoff values for species delimitation have not yet been fully tested in microsporidia. In this study we examined the distribution of ANI values for 65 publicly available microsporidian genomes and tested whether the 95% cutoff value is a good estimation for circumscribing species based on their genetic relatedness.
A new microsporidian parasite, Ordospora pajunii sp. nov (Ordosporidae), of Daphnia longispina highlights the value of genomic data for delineating species boundaries Nathalia R. M. de Albuquerque, Karen L. Haag, Peter D. Fields, Andrea Cabalzar, Frida Ben‐Ami, Jean‐François Pombert, Dieter Ebert Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 2022 Speciation is a complex and continuous process that makes the delineation of species boundaries a challenging task in particular in species with little morphological differentiation, such as parasites. In this case, the use of genomic data is often necessary, such as for the intracellular Microsporidian parasites. Here, we characterize the genome of a gut parasite of the cladoceran Daphnia longispina (isolate FI‐F‐10), which we propose as a new species within the genus Ordospora: Ordospora pajunii sp. nov (Ordosporidae). FI‐F‐10 closest relative, Ordospora colligata is only found in D. magna. Both microsporidian species share several morphological features. Although it is not possible to estimate divergence times for Microsporidia due to the lack of fossil records and accelerated evolutionary rates, we base our proposal on the phylogenomic and genomic distances between both microsporidian lineages. The phylogenomic reconstruction shows that FI‐F‐10 forms an early diverging branch basal to the cluster that contains all known O. colligata strains. Whole‐genome comparisons show that FI‐F‐10 presents a greater divergence at the sequence level than observed among O. colligata strains, and its genomic average nucleotide identity (ANI) values against O. colligata are beyond the intraspecific range previously established for yeast and prokaryotes. Our data confirm that the ANI metrics are useful for fine genetic divergence calibration across Microsporidia taxa. In combination with phylogenetic and ecological data, genome‐based metrics provide a powerful approach to delimitate species boundaries.
Transposable element abundance correlates with mode of transmission in microsporidian parasites Nathalia Rammé Medeiros de Albuquerque, Dieter Ebert, Karen Luisa Haag Mobile DNA, 2020 The extreme genome reduction and physiological simplicity of some microsporidia has been attributed to their intracellular, obligate parasitic lifestyle. Although not all microsporidian genomes are small (size range from about 2 to 50 MB), it is suggested that the size of their genomes has been streamlined by natural selection. We explore the hypothesis that vertical transmission in microsporidia produces population bottlenecks, and thus reduces the effectiveness of natural selection. Here we compare the transposable element (TE) content of 47 microsporidian genomes, and show that genome size is positively correlated with the amount of TEs, and that species that experience vertical transmission have larger genomes with higher proportion of TEs. Our findings are consistent with earlier studies inferring that nonadaptive processes play an important role in microsporidian evolution.
Microsporidia with Vertical Transmission Were Likely Shaped by Nonadaptive Processes Karen L Haag, Jean-François Pombert, Yukun Sun, Nathalia Rammé M de Albuquerque, Brendan Batliner, Peter Fields, Tiago Falcon Lopes, Dieter Ebert Genome Biology and Evolution, 2019 Microsporidia have the leanest genomes among eukaryotes, and their physiological and genomic simplicity has been attributed to their intracellular, obligate parasitic life-style. However, not all microsporidia genomes are small or lean, with the largest dwarfing the smallest ones by at least an order of magnitude. To better understand the evolutionary mechanisms behind this genomic diversification, we explore here two clades of microsporidia with distinct life histories, Ordospora and Hamiltosporidium, parasitizing the same host species, Daphnia magna. Based on seven newly assembled genomes, we show that mixed-mode transmission (the combination of horizontal and vertical transmission), which occurs in Hamiltosporidium, is found to be associated with larger and AT-biased genomes, more genes, and longer intergenic regions, as compared with the exclusively horizontally transmitted Ordospora. Furthermore, the Hamiltosporidium genome assemblies contain a variety of repetitive elements and long segmental duplications. We show that there is an excess of nonsynonymous substitutions in the microsporidia with mixed-mode transmission, which cannot be solely attributed to the lack of recombination, suggesting that bursts of genome size in these microsporidia result primarily from genetic drift. Overall, these findings suggest that the switch from a horizontal-only to a mixed mode of transmission likely produces population bottlenecks in Hamiltosporidium species, therefore reducing the effectiveness of natural selection, and allowing their genomic features to be largely shaped by nonadaptive processes.
Antigenotoxic and antimutagenic effects of diphenyl ditelluride against several known mutagens in Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts C. Trindade, A. L. M. Juchem, N. R. M. de Albuquerque, I. M. de Oliveira, R. M. Rosa, T. N. Guecheva, J. Saffi, J. A. P. Henriques Mutagenesis, 2015 The present study evaluates antigenotoxic and antimutagenic properties of diphenyl ditelluride (DPDT) against several known mutagens in Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79 cells). DPDT was not cytotoxic and genotoxic at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.1 μM. The pre-treatment for 2h with this organotellurium compound at non-cytotoxic dose range (0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 μM) increased cell survival after challenge with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), t-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH), methylmethanesulphonate (MMS) or ultraviolet (UV)C radiation. In addition, the pre-treatment with DPDT decreased the DNA damage and Formamidopyrimidine DNA-glycosylase (Fpg)- and Endonuclease III (Endo III) sensitive sites induction by the studied genotoxic agents, as verified by comet assay and modified comet assay, respectively. The pre-treatment also reduced micronucleus frequency, revealing the protector effect of DPDT against MMS and UVC-induced mutagenesis. Our results demonstrate that DPDT-treated cells at concentration range of 0.01-0.1 μM do not change thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) levels and ROS generation. Moreover, DPDT pre-treatment at this concentration range decreases the ROS induction by H2O2 and t-BOOH treatment indicating antioxidant potential. On the other hand, concentrations higher than 0.1 μM increase TBARS formation and inhibited superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, suggesting pro-oxidative effect of this compound at high concentrations. Our results suggest that DPDT presents antigenotoxic and antimutagenic properties at concentration range of 0.01-0.1 μM. The protection effect could be attributed to antioxidant capacity of DPDT at this concentration range in V79 cells.
