Hidden population structure and cross-species transmission of whipworms (Trichuris sp.) in humans and non-human primates in Uganda.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Whipworms (Trichuris sp.) are a globally distributed genus of parasitic helminths that infect a diversity of mammalian hosts. Molecular methods have successfully resolved porcine whipworm, Trichuris suis, from primate whipworm, T. trichiura. However, it remains unclear whether T. trichiura is a multi-host parasite capable of infecting a wide taxonomic breadth of primate hosts or a complex of host specific parasites that infect one or two closely related hosts.

Methods and findings

We examined the phylogenetic structure of whipworms in a multi-species community of non-human primates and humans in Western Uganda, using both traditional microscopy and molecular methods. A newly developed nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method applied to non-invasively collecte

SUBMITTER: Ghai RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4207677 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature