Rev 02/21/2024
Rhabditida
The causal agent of brugian filariasis, elephantiasis, lymphatic filariasis
Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:
Many aspects of the biology of Brugia malayi are similar to Wuchereria bancrofti . It is vectored by mosquitoes and can cause elephantiasis. The primary difference between the two species is that brugian filariasis is not as widely distributed as is bancroftian filariasis, although the distributions of the two diseases overlap in many areas of the world.
Essentially endemic to Southeast Asia
Brugia malayi develops through four larval stages into an adult male or female within one of two host speciesâ€â€Âa mosquito vector (Culex, Aedes, and Anopheles) and humans. In humans, the adult worms can live for more than a decade.
Most filarial nematodes, including B. malayi, carry three genomes: nuclear, mitochondrial, and that of an alphaproteobacterial endosymbiont, Wolbachia. Ther nuclear genome of B. malayia is organized as five chromosomes that include an XY sex determining pair (Ghedin et al., 2007).
Ghedin, E. (+71 other authors) 2007. Draft Genome of the Filarial Nematode Parasite Brugia malayi. Science 317:5845
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