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A road map for in vivo evolution experiments with blood-borne parasitic microbes.

ABSTRACT: Laboratory experiments in which blood-borne parasitic microbes evolve in their animal hosts offer an opportunity to study parasite evolution and adaptation in real time and under natural settings. The main challenge of these experiments is to establish a protocol that is both practical over multiple passages and accurately reflects natural transmission scenarios and mechanisms. We provide a guide to the steps that should be considered when designing such a protocol, and we demonstrate its use via a case study. We highlight the importance of choosing suitable ancestral genotypes, treatments, number of replicates per treatment, types of negative controls, dependent variables, covariates, and the timing of checkpoints for the experimental design. We also recommend specific preliminary experiments to determine effective methods for parasite quantification, transmission, and preservation. Although these methodological considerations are technical, they also often have conceptual implications. To this end, we encourage other researchers to design and conduct in vivo evolution experiments with blood-borne parasitic microbes, despite the challenges that the work entails.

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Pastor R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9796859 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A road map for in vivo evolution experiments with blood-borne parasitic microbes.

Rodríguez-Pastor Ruth R Shafran Yarden Y Knossow Nadav N Gutiérrez Ricardo R Harrus Shimon S Zaman Luis L Lenski Richard E RE Barrick Jeffrey E JE Hawlena Hadas H

Molecular ecology resources 20220606 8

Laboratory experiments in which blood-borne parasitic microbes evolve in their animal hosts offer an opportunity to study parasite evolution and adaptation in real time and under natural settings. The main challenge of these experiments is to establish a protocol that is both practical over multiple passages and accurately reflects natural transmission scenarios and mechanisms. We provide a guide to the steps that should be considered when designing such a protocol, and we demonstrate its use vi ...[more]

PMID: 35599628

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Project description:BackgroundFreshwater snails are the first obligatory intermediate hosts in the trematode life cycle. Several parasitic diseases transmitted by these snails are endemic in Africa, and their distribution closely follows that of the intermediate hosts. These diseases represent a major public health problem and cause significant socio-economic losses in Africa, particularly schistosomiasis and fascioliasis. In this review, we will describe the main roles of freshwater snails in the life cycle of trematode parasites, and the geographical distribution of these diseases in Africa. We will also discuss the different techniques for detecting parasitic infections in snails, as well as the various methods of controlling snails and the larval stages of parasites.MethodsWe carried out a literature search for articles dealing with parasitic diseases transmitted by freshwater snail hosts in Africa. The search was conducted in databases such as PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar using various search terms combined by Boolean operators. Our search was limited to peer-reviewed articles less than 10 years old. Articles published to date in the fields of control of parasitic diseases transmitted by freshwater snails were included. Results were presented in narrative and in table format.ResultsThe results of the database search identified 1007 records. We included 84 studies in this review. These studies generally focused on freshwater snails and the diseases they transmit. We described the geographical distribution of 43 freshwater species belonging to nine snail families, as well as the parasites that infect them. Several methods for diagnosing parasites in their snail hosts have been described, including microscopic and molecular methods, as well as antibody and protein barcode-based techniques. Molluscicides have been described as the main strategy for snail control.ConclusionThis study highlights several elements of knowledge about diseases transmitted by freshwater snails and their distribution. A good understanding of snail infection detection techniques and existing control methods is an essential component in adapting control strategies for these diseases.

Dataset Information

A road map for in vivo evolution experiments with blood-borne parasitic microbes.

Publications

A road map for in vivo evolution experiments with blood-borne parasitic microbes.

Similar Datasets

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