Experimental host-induced selection in Schistosoma mansoni strains from Guadeloupe and comparison with natural observations

P. Bremond (1) , Nicole Pasteur (2) , Claude Combes (1) , François Renaud (3) , André Theron (1)

1 PFE - Parasitologie fonctionnelle et évolutive [2003-2006]
2 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
3 GEMI - Génétique et évolution des maladies infectieuses

Allelic frequency variation at the malate dehydrogenase (E.C.1.1.1.37) polymorphic locus (Mdh-1) was analysed during several successive generations in four strains of Schistosoma mansoni from Guadeloupe, maintained experimentally on mice. A rapid evolution of the frequency of the Mdh-1a allele is interpreted as being the result of an interaction between experimental drift and selection induced by the murine laboratory host. These experimental results are compared to the genetic structures observed among the corresponding natural populations of S. mansoni in Guadeloupe (West Indies). They strengthen the hypothesis of a natural host-induced selection by the murine host (Rattus rattus), which, in Guadeloupe, plays the role of host reservoir for this human schistosome.

Mots clés: HOST SELECTION; PARASITE; RANDOM DRIFT; RATTUS RATTUS; SCHISTOSOMA MANSONI; ENZYME POLYMORPHISM; WEST-INDIES; POPULATIONS; RODHAINI; ENZYMATIC POLYMORPHISM

Domaines: Génétique

P. Bremond, Nicole Pasteur, Claude Combes, François Renaud, André Theron. Experimental host-induced selection in Schistosoma mansoni strains from Guadeloupe and comparison with natural observations. Heredity, 1993, 70, pp.33-37. ⟨10.1038/hdy.1993.5⟩. ⟨halsde-00201339⟩