ABSTRACT
To date, all free-living adult hairworms have been reported from aquatic habitats. However, in Oklahoma, a recently described gordiid, Gordius terrestris, is consistently encountered in terrestrial habitats. We found this gordiid species has a unique egg morphology, unlike that of any other hairworm species, with an outer shell separated by distinct space from a thick inner membrane surrounding the developing larva. Because of this unique egg morphology and the occurrence of free-living hairworms in terrestrial habitats, it was hypothesized that G. terrestris represents the first report of a hairworm species with a terrestrial life cycle. In this study, we observed thousands of free-living adult worms in terrestrial habitats such as wet lawns and underneath wet sod during the winter. We found evidence of worms mating in these terrestrial habitats, followed by female worms burrowing and ovipositing in the soil. In the laboratory, significantly more females burrowed in the soil than males, providing a plausible explanation for the extreme male-biased sex ratio observed for free-living worms found on wet lawns. Finally, we collected terrestrial earthworms infected with the cyst stage of this gordiid species in the field and confirmed those observations by infecting earthworms with G. terrestris larvae in the laboratory. Taken together, these observations strongly support the hypothesis that G. terrestris has a terrestrial life cycle.
Subject(s)
Helminths/physiology , Life Cycle Stages , Oligochaeta/parasitology , Soil/parasitology , Animals , Female , Helminths/growth & development , Male , Oklahoma , Rain , SeasonsABSTRACT
The 19 genera within the phylum Nematomorpha contain approximately 350 species. The cosmopolitan genus Gordionus Müller, 1926 contains about 58 species, 6 of which occur in the contiguous United States of America. Recently, 2 new Gordionus species were described from high-altitude streams within the southern Rocky Mountains, near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here we describe another new Gordionus species, from a high-altitude stream in the southern Rocky Mountains, from near Taos, New Mexico. The sites consisted of temporary puddles and a small human-made stream at 3,175-3,250-m altitude in aspen/pine woodland. Gordionus lokeri n. sp. has 1 areole type, which varies in shape and size between and within body regions. Midbody areoles are elongated, polygonal, or triangular, shingled, with the raised side of the areole serrated. The interareolar space is narrow, containing few bristles. The male cloacal opening is surrounded inside and outside by narrow branching bristles that bifurcate or trifurcate deeply; the furcae then subdivide several times terminally. Adhesive warts are lacking. Genetic data, consisting of partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences, clearly separated G. lokeri n. sp. from other Nearctic species. This is the third Gordionus species described from high-elevation streams in the Rocky Mountains. It appears that this high-altitude habitat represents the preferential niche for numerous species of this genus, and thus future work should focus on describing gordiid diversity in other parts of the Rocky Mountains.
Subject(s)
Helminths/classification , Altitude , Animals , DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic , DNA, Helminth/chemistry , Electron Transport Complex IV/genetics , Female , Helminths/enzymology , Helminths/genetics , Helminths/ultrastructure , Male , New Mexico , Rivers/parasitologyABSTRACT
Freshwater hairworms (class Gordiida) are members of the phylum Nematomorpha that use terrestrial arthropods as definitive hosts but reside as free-living adult worms in rivers, lakes, or streams. The genus Gordius consists of 90 described species, of which three species were described from freshwater habitats in North America. In this paper we describe a new species of Gordius from terrestrial habitats in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana, United States. Oddly, each year hundreds of adult free-living worms appear after bouts of heavy rain on streets, sidewalks, and lawns during the winter season, when terrestrial arthropod hosts are not active. The new species is described based on morphological characters of adults and non-adult stages including the egg strings, eggs, larvae, and cysts. Adult males have a unique row of bristles on the ventral inner side of each tail lobe and a circular pattern of bristles on the terminal end of each lobe, which distinguishes them from all other described North American species of Gordius. The egg string, larval, and cyst morphology of this new species conform to previous descriptions of non-adult hairworm stages for the genus Gordius. However, the eggs of this new species of hairworm are unique, as they contain an outer shell separated by distinct space from a thick inner membrane. The consistent occurrence of this gordiid in terrestrial habitats, along with its distinct egg morphology, suggests that this new species of hairworm has a terrestrial life cycle.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The full scope of the genes expressed by schistosomes during intramolluscan development has yet to be characterized. Understanding the gene products deployed by larval schistosomes in their snail hosts will provide insights into their establishment, maintenance, asexual reproduction, ability to castrate their hosts, and their prolific production of human-infective cercariae. Using the Illumina platform, the intramolluscan transcriptome of Schistosoma mansoni was investigated in field-derived specimens of the prominent vector species Biomphalaria pfeifferi at 1 and 3 days post infection (d) and from snails shedding cercariae. These S. mansoni samples were derived from the same snails used in our complementary B. pfeifferi transcriptomic study. We supplemented this view with microarray analyses of S. mansoni from B. glabrata at 2d, 4d, 8d, 16d, and 32d to highlight robust features of S. mansoni transcription, even when a different technique and vector species was used. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Transcripts representing at least 7,740 (66%) of known S. mansoni genes were expressed during intramolluscan development, with the greatest number expressed in snails shedding cercariae. Many transcripts were constitutively expressed throughout development featuring membrane transporters, and metabolic enzymes involved in protein and nucleic acid synthesis and cell division. Several proteases and protease inhibitors were expressed at all stages, including some proteases usually associated with cercariae. Transcripts associated with G-protein coupled receptors, germ cell perpetuation, and stress responses and defense were well represented. We noted transcripts homologous to planarian anti-bacterial factors, several neural development or neuropeptide transcripts including neuropeptide Y, and receptors that may be associated with schistosome germinal cell maintenance that could also impact host reproduction. In at least one snail the presence of larvae of another digenean species (an amphistome) was associated with repressed S. mansoni transcriptional activity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This in vivo study, emphasizing field-derived snails and schistosomes, but supplemented with observations from a lab model, provides a distinct view from previous studies of development of cultured intramolluscan stages from lab-maintained organisms. We found many highly represented transcripts with suspected or unknown functions, with connection to intramolluscan development yet to be elucidated.
Subject(s)
Biomphalaria/parasitology , Helminth Proteins/genetics , Schistosoma mansoni/genetics , Animals , Biomphalaria/classification , Cercaria/genetics , Cercaria/growth & development , Cercaria/metabolism , Disease Vectors , Gene Expression Profiling , Helminth Proteins/metabolism , Schistosoma mansoni/growth & development , Schistosoma mansoni/metabolism , TranscriptomeABSTRACT
Gordiids, or freshwater hairworms, are members of the phylum Nematomorpha that use terrestrial definitive hosts (arthropods) and live as adults in rivers, lakes, or streams. The genus Paragordius consists of 18 species, one of which was described from the Nearctic in 1851. More than 150 years later, we are describing a second Paragordius species from a unique habitat within the Nearctic; the Madrean Sky Island complex. The Madrean Sky Islands are a series of isolated high mountains in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States (Arizona and New Mexico), and are well known for their high diversity and endemicity. The new species is described based on both molecular data (COI barcoding) and morphological characters of the eggs, larvae, cysts, and adults. Adult females have unique small oblong mounds present on the interior of the trifurcating lobes with randomly dispersed long hairs extending from the furrows between the mounds. Marked genetic differences support observed morphological differences. This species represents the second new hairworm to be described from the Madrean Sky Islands, and it may represent the first endemic hairworm from this biodiversity hotspot.
ABSTRACT
In this study, we sampled aquatic snails for the presence of hairworm cysts from 46 streams in Payne County, Oklahoma. Gordiid cysts were found at 70 % (32/46) of sites examined. Based on cyst morphology, we were able to identify three morphological types of gordiid cysts, including Paragordius, Gordius, and Chordodes/Neochordodes. Using our gordiid cyst presence data in conjunction with environmental variables, we developed an ecological niche model using Maxent to identify areas suitable for snail infections with gordiids. The model successfully predicted all presence localities of gordiid cysts in snails over a geographic area of 1,810 km2. We used this information, along with arthropod host infections and crowdsourcing, citizen scientists sampling for adult free-living worms during peak emergent times in areas predicted suitable by the model, to document Paragordius varius, Chordodes morgani, and a new species of gordiid (Gordius n. sp.). To our knowledge, this is the first ecological niche model attempted on such a narrow geographic scale (county level) that recovered known locations successfully. We provide new scanning electron micrographs and molecular data for these species. Our field data and ecological niche model clearly indicate that gordiid cysts are easy to detect in the environment and together these sampling techniques can be useful in discovering new species of gordiids, even in relatively well sampled areas for these cryptic parasites.
Subject(s)
Helminths/classification , Helminths/growth & development , Animal Distribution , Animal Structures/anatomy & histology , Animal Structures/growth & development , Animals , Biodiversity , Body Size , Ecosystem , Female , Helminths/anatomy & histology , Male , Organ Size , Snails/parasitologyABSTRACT
The host-parasite associations between ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and hairworms (Nematomorpha: Gordiida) collected from the Arctic (an understudied and ecologically important region) is described. Carabids and their parasites were collected from 12 sites spanning the 3 northernmost ecoclimatic zones of Canada (north boreal, subarctic, and high Arctic) using standardized methods. The beetles and hairworms were identified using traditional morphological approaches. Seven beetle species are recorded as hosts: Amara alpina, Pterostichus caribou, Pterostichus brevicornis, Pterostichus tareumiut, Pterostichus haematopus, Patrobus septentrionis, and Notiophilus borealis. All represent new host records (increasing the known North American host list from 14 to 21), and this is the first record of hairworm infection in the genus Notiophilus. Beetles from Banks Island, Northwest Territory, were infected in high numbers (11-19% per sampling period) and were used as an ecological case study. There was no significant relationship between infection status and host species, body size, or sex. Beetles collected in yellow pan traps and in wet habitats were more likely to be infected, likely due to water-seeking behavior induced by the parasites. Morphological examinations indicate that the hairworms collected from all locations represent a single, new species of Gordionus, making it only the sixth hairworm species and the third species of that genus found in Canada. Hosts are unknown for all other Canadian (and 1 Alaskan) Gordionus species.
Subject(s)
Coleoptera/parasitology , Helminths/classification , Animals , Arctic Regions , Female , Helminths/anatomy & histology , Helminths/physiology , Male , Northwest Territories , Nunavut , Yukon TerritoryABSTRACT
Small RNA pathways act at the front line of defence against transposable elements across the Eukaryota. In animals, Piwi interacting small RNAs (piRNAs) are a crucial arm of this defence. However, the evolutionary relationships among piRNAs and other small RNA pathways targeting transposable elements are poorly resolved. To address this question we sequenced small RNAs from multiple, diverse nematode species, producing the first phylum-wide analysis of how small RNA pathways evolve. Surprisingly, despite their prominence in Caenorhabditis elegans and closely related nematodes, piRNAs are absent in all other nematode lineages. We found that there are at least two evolutionarily distinct mechanisms that compensate for the absence of piRNAs, both involving RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs). Whilst one pathway is unique to nematodes, the second involves Dicer-dependent RNA-directed DNA methylation, hitherto unknown in animals, and bears striking similarity to transposon-control mechanisms in fungi and plants. Our results highlight the rapid, context-dependent evolution of small RNA pathways and suggest piRNAs in animals may have replaced an ancient eukaryotic RNA-dependent RNA polymerase pathway to control transposable elements.
Subject(s)
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics , Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics , MicroRNAs/genetics , Nematoda/genetics , Phylogeny , RNA, Small Interfering/genetics , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Base Sequence , Biological Evolution , Caenorhabditis elegans/immunology , Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolism , Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/metabolism , DNA Methylation , DNA Transposable Elements/immunology , Drosophila melanogaster/genetics , Drosophila melanogaster/immunology , Drosophila melanogaster/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation , Humans , MicroRNAs/metabolism , Molecular Sequence Data , Nematoda/classification , Nematoda/immunology , Nematoda/metabolism , RNA, Small Interfering/metabolism , RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/genetics , RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/metabolism , Ribonuclease III/genetics , Ribonuclease III/metabolismABSTRACT
Recognizing cryptic species promotes a better understanding of biodiversity, systematics, evolutionary biology, and biogeography. When cryptic species are disease-causing organisms, such as parasites, their correct recognition has important implications for the study of epidemiology, disease ecology, and host-parasite relationships. Freshwater nematomorphs (Nematomorpha: Gordiida) or hairworms, are an enigmatic yet fascinating group of parasites that are known to manipulate host behavior to aid transition from the parasitic phase, within terrestrial insects, to the free-living aquatic stage. Hairworm taxonomy has been hampered by a paucity of informative diagnostic characters and it has long been suspected that this group contains numerous cryptic species. Study of single hairworm species over large geographical areas has been difficult due to extremely rare encounters and unreliable methods of collecting adult worms. Here we report that by using crowdsourcing, citizen scientists have collected and submitted samples of Gordius cf. robustus from throughout its range in North America making its genetic study possible. Combined with our own collections, we examined samples from 28 localities within the USA; despite the collection of numerous hairworms from Canada and Mexico, G. cf. robustus were not collected outside of the contiguous United States. Mitochondrial CO1 genetic distances revealed that specimens grouped into 8 clades separated by 8-24.3%. In addition, molecular evidence from mitochondrial (CO1 and cytB) and nuclear (partial 28S, ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2) DNA suggests that these 8 clades are distinct species and that this group of species is paraphyletic, since the North American species G. attoni and the European species G. aquaticus and G. balticus group among the G. robustus lineages. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between genetic (CO1) and geographic distance between the 8 Gordius species. This study demonstrates the value of involving the general public in biodiversity studies and highlights the feasibility of using the mitochondrial CO1 gene as a taxonomic marker for genetic barcoding and species identification within the phylum Nematomorpha.
Subject(s)
Biological Evolution , Helminths/classification , Phylogeny , Animals , Bayes Theorem , Crowdsourcing , DNA, Helminth/genetics , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/genetics , Genetics, Population/methods , Likelihood Functions , Models, Genetic , Parasites/classification , Sequence Analysis, DNA , United StatesABSTRACT
Freshwater hairworms infect terrestrial arthropods as larvae but are free-living in aquatic habitats as adults. Estimates suggest that only 18% of hairworm species have been described globally and biodiversity studies on this group have been hindered by unreliable ways of collecting adult free living worms over large geographical areas. However, recent work indicates that non-adult cyst stages of hairworms may be the most commonly encountered stages of gordiids in the environment, and can be used for discovering the hidden diversity of this group. Unfortunately, little information is available on the morphological characteristics of non-adult stages of hairworms. To address this problem, we describe and compare morphological characteristics of non-adult stages for nine species of African and North American gordiids from four genera (Chordodes, Gordius, Paragordius, and Neochordodes). Observations were made on the oviposition behavior of adult worms and morphological characteristics were recorded for egg strings, larvae and cysts using light and differential interference contrast microscopy and/or scanning electron microscopy. Our study indicates that three distinct types of oviposition behaviors and three distinct morphological types of egg string, larva, and cysts were present among the four genera of gordiids. Although species identification based on cyst characteristics was not always possible among different species of gordiids, cyst morphology was conserved among some genera and all clades of gordiids. More importantly, our work indicates that gordiid larval morphology can be used for predicting cyst morphology among other gordiid genera. The capability to identify and predict gordiid genera and/or clades based on cyst morphology will be useful for culturing gordiids in the laboratory from field collected cysts and these new techniques will undoubtedly allow others to discover new species of gordiids from around the world.
Subject(s)
Helminths/classification , Helminths/ultrastructure , Africa , Animals , Behavior, Animal , Demography , Female , Larva/classification , Larva/ultrastructure , North America , Oviposition , Ovum , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
We review recent advances in the use of non-adult gordiid cyst stages to locate gordiids over large geographical regions and new culturing techniques which can help overcome current difficulties in nematomorph biodiversity studies. Using these techniques, we collected a new species of gordiid as cysts in aquatic snails (Biomphalaria pfeifferi) from the Lake Victoria Basin, western Kenya, Africa and cultured them in the laboratory. We describe the adult free-living male and female worms using morphological (light and scanning electron microscopy) and molecular data as well as the life cycle, mating and oviposition behavior, egg strings, eggs, larvae, and cysts of this new species. Chordodes kenyaensis n. sp. belongs to a large group of African Chordodes in which simple areoles are smooth or superficially structured less so than "blackberry" areoles but contain filamentous projections. Present among the simple areoles are clusters of bulging areoles, crowned and circurmcluster areoles along with thorn and tubercle areoles. In the laboratory, worms developed and emerged within 53-78 days from three, species of laboratory-reared crickets exposed to cysts of this species. Adult male and female C. kenyaensis n. sp. initiated typical Gordian knots within hours to days of being placed together and males deposited masses of sperm on the cloacal region of females. Females began oviposition within a week of copulating and attached egg strings in a continuous zigzag pattern on small branches or air-hoses but never free in the water column. Larvae hatched within two to three weeks, and cysts developed in laboratory-reared and exposed snails within 14-24 days. Morphological characteristics of egg strings, eggs, larvae and cysts of C. kenyaensis were most similar to other gordiids in the genus Chordodes but differed morphologically from other gordiid genera for which similar information is available.
Subject(s)
Animal Distribution , Helminths/classification , Helminths/ultrastructure , Animals , Biodiversity , DNA/genetics , Female , Helminths/genetics , Helminths/physiology , Kenya , Larva/anatomy & histology , Larva/classification , Larva/physiology , Male , Oviposition , Ovum , Phylogeny , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
Hairworms infect terrestrial arthropods and are 1 of the most understudied groups of parasites. Recently, life cycles of 2 gordiids (Paragordius varius and Paragordius obamai) have been domesticated in the laboratory. We tested the viability of laboratory reared and post-frozen larval and cyst stages of the North American gordiid, P. varius , frozen at -80 C for 7 mo, and the viability of field collected and post-frozen cysts of the African (P. obamai) and North American ( P. varius ) gordiid frozen at -20 C for 2 mo. All snails exposed to post-frozen or control P. varius larvae became infected with cysts, and there was no significant difference in prevalence or mean intensity of cysts among control or experimental snail groups. As with larvae, no significant differences were observed in prevalence or mean intensity of emerging worms from crickets infected with post-frozen or control P. obamai or P. varius cysts. All female P. obamai and P. varius worms from control and post-frozen cyst infections laid eggs and larvae hatched from some of these eggs. Survival and cyst formation of P. varius larvae exposed to different combinations of drying and/or freezing temperatures indicated that gordiid larvae have the ability to survive drying and freezing, but survival significantly increases during freezing at lower temperatures. The major contribution of our study is the demonstration that gordiid larval and cyst stages can survive freezing temperatures to infect and develop in the next host.
Subject(s)
Freezing , Gryllidae/parasitology , Helminths/physiology , Life Cycle Stages , Snails/parasitology , Animals , Desiccation , Female , Helminths/growth & development , Larva/physiology , Life Cycle Stages/physiology , MaleABSTRACT
Schistosomiasis is one of the foremost health problems in developing countries and has been estimated to account for the loss of up to 56 million annual disability-adjusted life years. Control of the disease relies almost exclusively on praziquantel (PZQ) but this drug does not kill juvenile worms during the early stages of infection or prevent post-treatment reinfection. As the use of PZQ continues to grow, there are fears that drug resistance may become problematic thus there is a need to develop a new generation of more broadly effective anti-schistosomal drugs, a task that will be made easier by having an understanding of why PZQ kills sexually mature worms but fails to kill juveniles. Here, we describe the exposure of mixed-sex juvenile and sexually mature male and female Schistosoma mansoni to 1 µg/mL PZQ in vitro and the use of microarrays to observe changes to the transcriptome associated with drug treatment. Although there was no significant difference in the total number of genes expressed by adult and juvenile schistosomes after treatment, juveniles differentially regulated a greater proportion of their genes. These included genes encoding multiple drug transporter as well as calcium regulatory, stress and apoptosis-related proteins. We propose that it is the greater transcriptomic flexibility of juvenile schistosomes that allows them to respond to and survive exposure to PZQ in vivo.
Subject(s)
Anthelmintics/pharmacology , Gene Expression Profiling , Praziquantel/pharmacology , Schistosoma mansoni/drug effects , Schistosoma mansoni/genetics , Transcriptome , Animals , Female , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Male , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
We assessed the post-blood meal flight distance of four mosquito species in a unique environment using blood meal analysis. Mosquitoes were trapped at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, NM, and the blood source of blood-engorged mosquitoes was identified. The distance from the enclosure of the animal serving as a blood source to the trap site was then determined. We found that mosquitoes captured at the zoo flew no more than 170 m with an average distance of 106.7 m after taking a blood meal. This is the first study in which the flight distance of wild mosquitoes has been assessed using blood meal analysis and the first in which zoo animals have served as the exclusive source of blood meals.
Subject(s)
Culicidae/physiology , Animals , Animals, Zoo , Behavior, Animal/physiology , Postprandial PeriodABSTRACT
Despite the severe fitness costs associated with sexual reproduction, its persistence and pervasiveness among multicellular organisms testifies to its intrinsic, short-term advantages. However, the reproductive assurance hypothesis predicts selection favoring asexual reproduction in sparse populations and when mate finding is difficult. Difficulties in finding mates is especially common in parasites, whose life cycles involve multiple hosts, or being released from the host into the external environment where the parasite can find itself trapped without a sexual partner. To solve this problem and guarantee reproduction, parasites in numerous phyla have evolved reproductive strategies, as predicted by the reproductive assurance hypothesis, such as hermaphroditism or parthenogenesis. However, this type of strategy has not been reported from species in the phylum Nematomorpha, whose populations have often been described as sparse. A new Nematomorpha species, Paragordius obamai n. sp., was discovered from Kenya, Africa, and appears to have solved the problem of being trapped without a mate by eliminating the need for males. Paragordius obamai n. sp. represents the first and only known species within this phylum to reproduce asexually. To determine the mechanism of this mating strategy, we ruled out the involvement of reproduction manipulating endosymbionts by use of next generation sequencing data, thus suggesting that parthenogenesis is determined genetically and may have evolved as a means to assure reproduction. Since this new parthenogenetic species and a closely related gonochoristic North American congener, P. varius, are easy to propagate in the laboratory, these gordiids can be used as model systems to test hypotheses on the genetic advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction and the genetic determinants of reproductive strategies in parasites.
Subject(s)
Helminths/physiology , Parthenogenesis/physiology , Animals , Female , Life Cycle Stages , MaleABSTRACT
The outcome of infection in the host snail Biomphalaria glabrata with the digenean parasite Schistosoma mansoni is determined by the initial molecular interplay occurring between them. The mechanisms by which schistosomes evade snail immune recognition to ensure survival are not fully understood, but one possibility is that the snail internal defence system is manipulated by the schistosome enabling the parasite to establish infection. This study provides novel insights into the nature of schistosome resistance and susceptibility in B. glabrata at the transcriptomic level by simultaneously comparing gene expression in haemocytes from parasite-exposed and control groups of both schistosome-resistant and schistosome-susceptible strains, 2 h post exposure to S. mansoni miracidia, using an novel 5K cDNA microarray. Differences in gene expression, including those for immune/stress response, signal transduction and matrix/adhesion genes were identified between the two snail strains and tests for asymmetric distributions of gene function also identified immune-related gene expression in resistant snails, but not in susceptible. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that genes involved in mitochondrial electron transport, ubiquinone biosynthesis and electron carrier activity were consistently up-regulated in resistant snails but down-regulated in susceptible. This supports the hypothesis that schistosome-resistant snails recognize schistosomes and mount an appropriate defence response, while in schistosome-susceptible snails the parasite suppresses this defence response, early in infection.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers/metabolism , Biomphalaria/parasitology , Gene Expression Profiling , Hemocytes/metabolism , Immunity, Innate/genetics , Schistosoma mansoni/physiology , Schistosomiasis mansoni/parasitology , Animals , Biomphalaria/genetics , Biomphalaria/immunology , Disease Susceptibility/immunology , Hemocytes/parasitology , Host-Parasite Interactions , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis , RNA, Messenger/genetics , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Schistosomiasis mansoni/genetics , Signal TransductionABSTRACT
From 1998 to 2003, beetles and crickets infected with hairworms were collected from 4 localities within the Hanford Nuclear Site and the Hanford Reach National Monument, located in a shrub-steppe region of Washington State along the Columbia River. Infected hosts comprised 6 species of carabid beetles within 5 genera and 2 camel crickets within 1 genus; all are newly documented insect-nematomorph associations. A large proportion of the infected hosts (48%) were collected from a single site during a single collecting period. Of the 38 infected hosts, 32 contained a single worm, 4 hosts contained 2 worms, and 2 hosts contained 3 worms. Five of the hosts with multiple infections contained at least 1 male and 1 female worm. Camel crickets were infected with Neochordodes occidentalis while carabids were infected with an undescribed species of Gordionus . As the majority of hairworms are collected in the post-parasitic adult phase, host data and hairworm-arthropod associations remain poorly documented and our work adds new data to this area of nematomorph biology.
Subject(s)
Coleoptera/parasitology , Gryllidae/parasitology , Helminths/classification , Animals , Artemisia , Ecosystem , Female , Fresh Water , Helminths/physiology , Male , Silicon Dioxide , WashingtonABSTRACT
The distribution of Schistosoma genotypes among individuals in snail populations provides insights regarding the dynamics of transmission and compatibility between schistosome and snail hosts. A survey of Biomphalaria alexandrina from Damietta (Nile Delta, Egypt), an area subjected to persistent schistosomiasis control efforts, provided only 17 snails infected with Schistosoma mansoni (6.1% overall prevalence), each shown by microsatellite analysis to have a single genotype infection. By contrast, recent studies of uncontrolled S. mansoni transmission foci in Kenya revealed that 4.3% Biomphalaria pfeifferi and 20-25% Biomphalaria sudanica snails had multiple genotype infections. Compared with the 3 Kenyan populations, the Egyptian population of S. mansoni also showed a lesser degree of genetic variability and was genetically differentiated from them. We suggest that tracking of genotype diversity in infected snails could be further developed to serve as an additional and valuable independent indicator of efficacy of schistosomiasis control in Egypt and elsewhere.
Subject(s)
Biomphalaria/parasitology , Schistosoma mansoni/classification , Alleles , Animals , Biomphalaria/classification , DNA, Helminth/analysis , Egypt , Genetic Variation , Genotype , Kenya , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Schistosoma mansoni/geneticsABSTRACT
Hairworms (Nematomorpha: Gordiida) are internal parasites that alter the behavior of their terrestrial insect host, forcing it to enter the water to reach its reproductive habitat. After reproduction of the free-living adults, the larvae encyst in aquatic insects and are retained upon metamorphosis of the insect into an adult fly. This paratenic host links the aquatic and terrestrial environments after its consumption by omnivorous or predatory insects. Therefore, hairworms are usually only associated with invertebrates, and few reports discuss hairworm interactions with vertebrate species. Here, we report on the finding of horsehair worms in nests of a cavity-nesting bird species in Los Alamos County, New Mexico. From 2004 to 2008, 7 nests within nest boxes occupied by the western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) contained 8 hairworms that were identified as Gordius robustus. All of the nest boxes with worms were less than 100 m from stagnant or low-flowing streams. The most likely explanation for the presence of the worms in the nests is that worms engaged in anti-predator avoidance after their insect hosts were collected and before digestion by nestling birds.
Subject(s)
Helminths/isolation & purification , Housing, Animal , Songbirds , Animal Feed/parasitology , Animals , Female , Helminths/physiology , Insecta/parasitology , Male , New MexicoABSTRACT
Hybridization and introgression can have important consequences for the evolution, ecology and epidemiology of pathogenic organisms. We examined the dynamics of hybridization between a trematode parasite of humans, Schistosoma mansoni, and its sister species, S. rodhaini, a rodent parasite, in a natural hybrid zone in western Kenya. Using microsatellite markers, rDNA and mtDNA, we showed that hybrids between the two species occur in nature, are fertile and produce viable offspring through backcrosses with S. mansoni. Averaged across collection sites, individuals of hybrid ancestry comprised 7.2% of all schistosomes collected, which is a large proportion given that one of the parental species, S. rodhaini, comprised only 9.1% of the specimens. No F1 individuals were collected and all hybrids represented backcrosses with S. mansoni that were of the first or successive generations. The direction of introgression appears highly asymmetric, causing unidirectional gene flow from the rodent parasite, S. rodhaini, to the human parasite, S. mansoni. Hybrid occurrence was seasonal and most hybrids were collected during the month of September over a 2-year period, a time when S. rodhaini was also abundant. We also examined the sex ratios and phenotypic differences between the hybrids and parental species, including the number of infective stages produced in the snail host and the time of day the infective stages emerge. No statistical differences were found in any of these characteristics, and most of the hybrids showed an emergence pattern similar to that of S. mansoni. One individual, however, showed a bimodal emergence pattern that was characteristic of both parental species. In conclusion, these species maintain their identity despite hybridization, although introgression may cause important alterations of the biology and epidemiology of schistosomiasis in this region.