Spatial segregation between invasive and native commensal rodents in an urban environment: a case study in Niamey, Niger.

Invasive rodents have been responsible for the diffusion worldwide of many zoonotic agents, thus representing major threats for public health. Cities are important hubs for people and goods exchange and are thus expected to play a pivotal role in invasive commensal rodent dissemination. Yet, data about urban rodents' ecology, especially invasive vs. native species interactions, are dramatically scarce. Here, we provide results of an extensive survey of urban rodents conducted in Niamey, Niger, depicting the early stages of rodent bioinvasions within a city. We explore the species-specific spatial distributions throughout the city using contrasted approaches, namely field sampling, co-occurrence analysis, occupancy modelling and indicator geostatistics. We show that (i) two species (i.e. rural-like vs. truly commensal) assemblages can be identified, and that (ii) within commensal rodents, invasive (Rattus rattus and Mus musculus) and native (Mastomys natalensis) species are spatially segregated. Moreover, several pieces of arguments tend to suggest that these exclusive distributions reflect an ongoing native-to-invasive species turn over. The underlying processes as well as the possible consequences for humans are discussed.

Molecular survey of rodent-borne Trypanosoma in Niger with special emphasis on T. lewisi imported by invasive black rats.

Invading rodent species can harbor parasites with potential transmission to native rodents and/or humans. To investigate trypanosomes prevalence in rodents, the spleen of 76 rodents from Niger identified by their karyotype was used as a DNA source for Trypanosoma detection using a newly developed qPCR assay. Of the invasive black rat, Rattus rattus, 71% (10/14) were PCR positive as well as 6% (4/62) of native African rodents. Sequences of ~400bp of the SSU rDNA gene identified phylogenetically close Trypanosoma lineages. Trypanosoma lewisi was present in all positive black rats and the sequences displayed 100% similarity with T. lewisi-infected humans in Senegal. T. lewisi was also detected in one Acomys johannis, suggesting a possible transmission to native species. In addition to improved knowledge of Trypanosoma diversity in rodents, our data underscore the introduction of the potentially pathogenic T. lewisi kinetoplastid through the human-mediated invasion of black rats all over West Africa.

Robertsonian fusions, pericentromeric repeat organization and evolution: a case study within a highly polymorphic rodent species, Gerbillus nigeriae.

Pericentromeric repeats have been claimed to mediate centric fusions through heterologous recombination of arrays of tandemly repeated and highly homogenized motifs. However, mammalian case studies are essentially restricted to pathologic fusions in human, or to the house mouse Roberstonian (Rb) races. We here provide an example in a wild gerbil rodent, Gerbillus nigeriae, which displays an extensive Rb polymorphism, with 2n ranging between 2n = 60 and 74. The distribution of two closely related repeats, GERB1 and GERB2 that were previously isolated by Volobouev et al. (Chromosoma 104:252-259, 1995) in this African species, were investigated in the genomes of seven individuals with various diploid numbers. Our results clearly show that GERB1 and GERB2 are organized in a non-random manner, with GERB2 and GERB1 being clearly juxtacentromeric and centromeric, respectively. Finally, cloning and sequencing revealed that, unlike GERB2, GERB1 monomers display a more homogeneous organization at both the nucleotide and structural levels. Altogether, our results point toward a pivotal role of GERB1 repeats in the mediation of Rb fusions through heterologous recombination, with some evidence of subsequent loss of repeats after the Rb fusion during the course of evolution of metacentric elements. Moreover, the repeat pattern observed in G. nigeriae closely matches the organization and sequence structure of satellite DNAs described in human acrocentrics. Consequently, G. nigeriae appears as an additional model for the study of repeat evolution and its role in centric fusions and their consequences in mammals.