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Loa loa (African eyeworm) causes filarial disease in humans. Localized angioedema (Calabar swelling) is a frequent manifestation, but complications include encephalopathy, neuropathy, nephritis, and endomyocardial fibrosis. Unlike other filariae, L. loa does not appear to require the proteobacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia, which is thought to confer metabolic capabilities to filariae that require it for survival and infection (Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Onchocerca volvulus). Targeting Wolbachia is effective against some filarial diseases, indicating that this symbiosis is crucial.
To characterize the distinguishing factors that free L. loa from this obligate symbiosis, researchers compared the L. loa and W. bancrofti genomes. L.…