Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T02:31:30.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Laboratory comparison of the relative success of Biomphalaria glabrata stocks which are susceptible and insusceptible to infection with Schistosoma mansoni

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. J. Minchella  and
P. T. Loverde
D. J. Minchella
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
P. T. Loverde
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A method of interrupting the life-cycle of the human blood fluke Schistosoma by increasing the proportion of genetically insusceptible intermediate host snails in natural populations was first proposed nearly 25 years ago. The method assumes that insusceptible snails will be at a selective advantage over susceptible snails when the schistosome parasite is present, and therefore natural selection will act to increase the proportion of alleles for insusceptibility. A major objection to the proposed technique is ‘If insusceptible snails are at a selective advantage, then why are they not predominant in natural populations that transmit disease?’ One explanation of this paradox is that insusceptibility may be associated with a disadvantageous character or a physiological defect. This study tests this hypothesis by measuring the relative reproductive success of susceptible and insusceptible snails under controlled conditions. Results indicate that insusceptible (unsuitable) snails are negatively affected in the presence of either susceptible snails or schistosome parasites. Furthermore, in the presence of both susceptible snails and schistosome parasites, insusceptible snails are selectively disadvantaged compared to susceptible snails. These results obtained under laboratory-controlled conditions suggest a plausible answer as to why insusceptible snails are not predominant in natural populations that transmit disease.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 86 , Issue 2 , April 1983 , pp. 335 - 344
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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

REFERENCES

Anderson, R. M. & May, R. M. (1979). Prevalence of schistosome infections within molluscan populations: observed patterns and theoretical predictions. Parasitology 79, 63–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barbosa, F. S. & Barreto, A. C. (1960). Differences in susceptibility of Brazilian strains of Australorbis glabratus to Schistosoma mansoni. Experimental Parasitology 9, 137–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Files, V. S. (1951). A study of the vector-parasite relationships in Schistosoma mansoni. Parasitology 41, 264–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frandsen, F. (1979). A study of the relationship between Schistosoma and their intermediate hosts. III. The genus Biomphalaria and Schistosoma mansoni from Egypt, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, West Indies (St Lucia) and Zaire (two different strains: Katanga and Kinshasa). Journal of Helminthology 53, 321–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gordon, R. M., Davey, T. H. & Peaston, H. (1934). The transmission of human bilharziasis in Sierra Leone, with an account of the life-cycle of the schistosomes concerned S. mansoni and S. haematobium. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 28, 323–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hairston, N. G. (1973). The dynamics of transmission. In Epidemiology and Control of Schistosomiasis (Bilharziasis) (ed. Ansari, N.), pp. 250–336. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Hairston, N. G., Wurzinger, K.-H. & Burch, J. B. (1975). Non-chemical methods of snail control. World Health Organization, WHO/VBC/75,573; WHO/SCHISTO/75.40.Google Scholar
Hartl, D. L. (1981). A Primer of Population Genetics. Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates.Google Scholar
Hubendick, B. (1958). A possible method of schistosome vector control by competition between resistant and susceptible strains. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 18, 1113–16.Google ScholarPubMed
Lie, K. J., Heyneman, D. & Richards, C. S. (1977). Schistosoma mansoni: temporary reduction of natural resistance in Biomphalaria glabrata induced by irradiated miracidia of Echinostoma paraensei. Experimental Parasitology 43, 54–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lo, C. T. (1972). Compatibility and host–parasite relationships between species of the genus Bulinus (Basommatophora: Planorbidae) and an Egyptian strain of Schistosoma haematobium (Trematoda: Digenea). Malacologia 11, 225–80.Google Scholar
Malek, E. A. (1979). Control of snail hosts of schistosomiasis. In Pathways in Malacology (ed. van der Spoel, S.van Bruggen, A. C. and Lever, J.), pp. 251–77. Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema and Holkema.Google Scholar
McClelland, G. & Bourns, T. K. R. (1969). Effects of Trichobilharzia ocellata on growth, reproduction, and survival of Lymnaea stagnalis. Experimental Parasitology 24, 137–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meuleman, E. A. (1972). Host-parasite interrelationships between the freshwater pulmonate Biomphalaria pfeifferi and the trematode Schistosoma mansoni. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 22, 355–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minchella, D. J. (1981). Ecological aspects of hosfr–parasite coevolution and their implications in the genetic control of schistosomiasis. Ph.D. thesis, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.Google Scholar
Richards, C. S. (1970). Genetics of a molluscan vector of schistosomiasis. Nature, London 227, 806–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richards, C. S. (1975). Genetic factors in susceptibility of Biomphalaria glabrata for different strains of Schistosoma mansoni. Parasitology 70, 231–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richards, C. S. (1976). Variations in infectivity for Biomphalaria glabrata in strains of Schistosoma mansoni from the same geographical area. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 54, 706–7.Google ScholarPubMed
Richards, C. S. (1983). Influence of snail age on genetic variations in susceptibility of Biomphalaria glabrata for infection with Schistosoma mansoni. Malacologia (in the Press).Google Scholar
Sturrock, R. F. (1973). Field studies on the transmission of Schistosoma mansoni and on the bionomics of its intermediate host, Biomphalaria glabrata, on St Lucia, West Indies. International Journal for Parasitology 3, 175–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, J. T. & Richards, C. S. (1981). Schistosoma mansoni, NIH-Sm-PR-2 strain, in susceptible and nonsuseeptible stocks of Biomphalaria glabrata: comparative histology. Journal of Parasitology 67, 702–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Upatham, E. S. (1972). Exposure of caged Biomphalaria glabrata (Say) to investigate dispersion of miracidia of Schistosoma mansoni Sambon in outdoor habitats in St Lucia. Journal of Helminthology 46, 297–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodruff, D. S. (1978). Biological control of schistosomiasis by genetic manipulation of intermediate host snail populations. Proceedings of the International Conference on Schistosomiasis 2, 755.Google Scholar
Wright, C. A. (1971). Review of ‘Genetics of a molluscan vector of schistosomias’ by C. S. Richards. Tropical Disease Bulletin 68, 333–5.Google Scholar