Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T08:33:35.743Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rhythmicity of egg production by Heligmosomoides polygyrus in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2009

E.D. Brown ,
D.W. Macdonald ,
T.E. Tew  and
I.A. Todd
E.D. Brown
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS
D.W. Macdonald*
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS
T.E. Tew
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS
I.A. Todd
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS
*
*Author for correspondence.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The rhythmicity of egg production by Heligmosomoides polygyrus (Nematoda) in wild caught wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) was studied. Faecal production followed a 24 h cycle, with peaks at 0400 h and troughs at 1300–1900 h. The patterns in eggs per gram of faeces (EPG) and total eggs were similar to each other, though the former was more accentuated. Both of these followed a 24 h cycle, with peaks coinciding with troughs in faecal production and vice versa. Faecal weight was inversely correlated with EPG, but was not significantly correlated with total eggs. The pattern in EPG presumably reflected the effect of faecal production on the total eggs excreted in each 3 h period. The observed cycle in total eggs probably describes the pattern of egg production by the worm, although other factors, such as the host's intestinal rhythms, may contribute to this cycle.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 68 , Issue 2 , June 1994 , pp. 105 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brindley, P.J. & Dobson, C. (1982) Nematospiroides dubius in mice selected for liability to infection: modification of parasite biology through host selection. International Journal for Parasitology 12, 573–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, E., Macdonald, D.W., Tew, T.E. & Todd, I. (In press) Apodemus sylvaticus infected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus (Nematoda) in an arable ecosystem: epidemiology and effects of infection on the movements of male mice. Journal of Zoology.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. (1973) The life-cycle of Nematospiroides dubius, Baylis, 1926 (Nematoda: Heligmosomoidae). Journal of Helminthology 47, 263–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ducluzeau, R., Bellier, M. & Raibaud, P. (1970) Transit digestif de divers inoculums bacteriens introduits per os chez des souris axeniques et holoxeniques (convetionelles): effet antagoniste de la microflore du tractus gastro-intestinal. Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie und Parasitenkunde 213, 533–548.Google Scholar
Kerboeuf, D. & Jacob, C. (1983) Rhythmic egg release by Heligmosomoides polygyrus, parasitic trichostrongylid of the murine rat. Chronobiologia 10, 255–267.Google Scholar
Kerboeuf, D. & Lewis, J.W. (1987) Rhythmic behaviour of intestinal helminths in rodents. Mammal Review 17, 127–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keymer, A. (1985) Experimental epidemiology: Nematospiroides dubius and the laboratory mouse. pp. 55–75 in Rollinson, D. & Anderson, R.M. (Eds) Ecology and genetics of host-parasite interactions. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, J.W. (1987) Helminth parasites of British rodents and insectivores. Mammal Review 17, 81–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J.W. & Shava, F.H.M. (1977) Rhythmic egg deposition by intestinal nematodes of laboratory mice. Parasitology 75, iv.Google Scholar
Plesner Jensen, S. (1993) Temporal changes in food preferences of wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus L.). Oecologia 94, 76–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slater, A.F.G. & Keymer, A.E. (1986) Epidemiology of Heligmosomoides polygyrus in mice: experiments on natural transmission. Parasitology 93, 177–187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tew, T.E. (1989) The behavioural ecology of the wood mouse in the cereal field ecosystem. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis, Oxford University, Oxford.Google Scholar
Tew, T.E. & Macdonald, D.W. (in press) Female promiscuity and male vigour amongst wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) in the cereal ecosystem. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.Google Scholar