Life Sciences Commons^™

Genomic Approaches To Uncovering The Coevolutionary History Of Parasitic Lice [Review], Kevin P. Johnson

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Next-generation sequencing technologies are revolutionizing the fields of genomics, phylogenetics, and population genetics. These new genomic approaches have been extensively applied to a major group of parasites, the lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) of birds and mammals. Two louse genomes have been assembled and annotated to date, and these have opened up new resources for the study of louse biology. Whole genome sequencing has been used to assemble large phylogenomic datasets for lice, incorporating sequences of thousands of genes. These datasets have provided highly supported trees at all taxonomic levels, ranging from relationships among the major groups of lice to those among …

Triatomines: Trypanosomatids, Bacteria, And Viruses Potential Vectors?, Caroline Barreto Viera, Yanna Reis Praça, Kaio Luis Da Silva Bentes, Paula Beatriz Santiago, Sofia Marcelino Martins Silva, Gabriel Dos Santos Silva, Flávia Nader Motta, Izabela Marques Dourado Bastos, Jaime Martins De Santana, Carla Nunes De Araújo

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Triatominae bugs are the vectors of Chagas disease, a major concern to public health especially in Latin America, where vector-borne Chagas disease has undergone resurgence due mainly to diminished triatomine control in many endemic municipalities. Although the majority of Triatominae species occurs in the Americas, species belonging to the genus Linshcosteus occur in India, and species belonging to the Triatoma rubrofasciata complex have been also identified in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and in the Western Pacific. Not all of Triatominae species have been found to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, but the possibility of establishing vector transmission …

Triatomines: Trypanosomatids, Bacteria, And Viruses Potential Vectors? [Review], Caroline Barreto Vieira, Yanna Reis Praça, Kaio Luís Da Silva Bentes, Paula Beatriz Santiago, Sofia Marcelino Martins Silva, Gabriel Dos Santos Silva, Flávia Nader Motta, Izabela Marques Dorado Bastos, Jaime Martins De Santana, Carla Nunes De Araújo

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Triatominae bugs are the vectors of Chagas disease, a major concern to public health especially in Latin America, where vector-borne Chagas disease has undergone resurgence due mainly to diminished triatomine control in many endemic municipalities. Although the majority of Triatominae species occurs in the Americas, species belonging to the genus Linshcosteus occur in India, and species belonging to the Triatoma rubrofasciata complex have been also identified in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and in the Western Pacific. Not all of Triatominae species have been found to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, but the possibility of establishing vector transmission …

Paleoparasitological Evidence Of Pinworm (Enterobius Vermicularis) Infection In A Female Adolescent Residing In Ancient Tehran (Iran) 7000 Years Ago, Niloofar Paknazhad, Gholamreza Mowlavi, Jean Dupouy Camet, Mohammad Esmaeili Jelodar, Iraj Mobedi, Mahsasadat Makki, Eshrat Beigom Kia, Mostafa Rezaeian, Mehdi Mohebali, Siamak Sarlak, Faezeh Najafi

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Background: The Molavi street archeological site south of Tehran, Iran accidentally provided a unique opportunity for paleoparasitological studies in Iran. A female skeleton was unearthed and evaluated to be 7,000 years old. Soil samples were collected around the pelvic and sacrum bones.

Findings: Careful microscopic investigation of rehydrated soil samples revealed the presence of one Enterobius vermicularis egg attached to the skeleton sacral region.

Conclusion: The present finding likely represents the oldest evidence of a human pinworm infection in Asia.

Echinococcus Multilocularis In Foxes And Raccoon Dogs: An Increasing Concern For Baltic Countries, Guna Bagrade, Gunita Deksne, Zanda Ozoliņa, Samantha Jane Howlett, Maria Interisano, Adriano Casulli, Edoardo Pozio

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Background

In Europe, the life cycle of Echinococcus multilocularis is predominantly sylvatic, involving red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) as the main definitive hosts and rodents such as muskrats and arvicolids as intermediate hosts. The parasite is the etiological agent of human alveolar echinococcosis, a malignant zoonotic disease caused by the accidental ingestion of eggs shed by definitive hosts in their feces. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of E. multilocularis in red foxes and raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and to study the environmental factors favoring the perpetuation of the parasite in Latvia. …

Taxonomy And Molecular Epidemiology Of Echinococcus Granulosus Sensu Lato, Thomas Romig, Dennis Ebi, Marion Wassermann

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Echinococcus granulosus, formerly regarded as a single species with a high genotypic and phenotypic diversity, is now recognized as an assemblage of cryptic species, which differ considerably in morphology, development, host specificity (including infectivity/pathogenicity for humans) and other aspects. This diversity is reflected in the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes and has led to the construction of phylogenetic trees and hypotheses on the origin and geographic dispersal of various taxa. Based on phenotypic characters and gene sequences, E. granulosus (sensu lato) has by now been subdivided into E. granulosus sensu stricto (including the formerly identified genotypic variants G1-3), …

Evolution Of Hematophagous Habit In Triatominae (Heteroptera: Reduviidae), Fernando Otálora-Luna, Antonio J. Pérez-Sánchez, Claudia Sandoval, Elis Aldana

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

All members of Triatominae subfamily (Heteroptera: Reduviidae), potential vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, etiologic agent of the Chagas disease, feed on blood. Through evolution, these bugs have fixed special morphological, physiological, and behavioral aptations (adaptations and exaptations) adequate to feed on blood. Phylogeny suggests that triatomines evolved from predator reduvids which in turn descended from phytophagous hemipterans. Some pleisiomorphic traits developed by the reduvid ancestors of the triatomines facilitated and modeled hematophagy in these insects. Among them, mouthparts, saliva composition, enzymes, and digestive symbionts are the most noticeable. However, the decisive step that allowed the shift from predation to hematophagy …

Cystic Echinococcoses In Mongolia: Molecular Identification, Serology And Risk Factors, Akira Ito, Temuulen Dorjsuren, Anu Davaasuren, Tetsuya Yanagida, Yasuhito Sako, Kazuhiro Nakaya, Minoru Nakao, Oyun-Erdene Bat-Ochir, Tsendjav Ayushkhuu, Narantuya Bazarragchaa, Nyamkhuu Gonchigsengee, Tiaoying Li, Gurbadam Agvaandaram, Abmed Davaajav, Chinchuluun Boldbaatar, Gantigmaa Chuluunbaatar

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Abstract

Background

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a globally distributed cestode zoonosis that causes hepatic cysts. Although Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) is the major causative agent of CE worldwide, recent molecular epidemiological studies have revealed that E. canadensis is common in countries where camels are present. One such country is Mongolia.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Forty-three human hepatic CE cases that were confirmed histopathologically at the National Center of Pathology (NCP) in Ulaanbaatar (UB) were identified by analysis of mitochondrial cox1 gene as being caused by either E. canadensis (n = 31, 72.1%) or E. granulosus s.s. ( …

The Biology And Taxonomy Of Head And Body Lice: Implications For Louse-Borne Disease Prevention, Denise L. Bonilla, Lance A. Durden, Marina E. Eremeeva, Gregory A. Dasch

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) are obligate blood-feeding ectoparasites of placental mammals including humans. Worldwide, more than 550 species have been described and many are specific to a particular host species of mammal. Three taxa uniquely parasitize humans: the head louse, body louse, and crab (pubic) louse. The body louse, in particular, has epidemiological importance because it is a vector of the causative agents of three important human diseases: epidemic typhus, trench fever, and louse-borne relapsing fever. Since the advent of antibiotics and more effective body louse control measures in the 1940s, these diseases have markedly diminished in incidence. However, due …

Biosystematics And Evolution Of The Triatominae = Biossistemática E Evolução De Triatomíneos, Christopher J. Schofield

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Abstract

In this paper we summarize the systematics of the 130 currently recognized species of Triatominae and the key features of their evolutionary background. There is increasing evidence that the subfamily has polyphyletic origins, with the various tribes and species groups probably arising from different reduviid lineages in relatively recent times.

Resumo

Neste trabalho resume-se a sistemática das 130 espécies de triatomíneos atualmente reconhecidas, com os elementos principais de sua evolução. Existem evidências crescentes para a origem polifilética da subfamília. As diferentes tribos e grupos de espécies que a compõem teriam surgido recentemente, a partir de diferentes linhagens de reduviídeos.

Case Report Of Human Infection With Capillaria Philippinensis, Ching-Yu Chen, Wei-Chuan Hsieh, Tsang-Lie Chen

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

In July 1988, a case of human infection with Capillaria philippinensis, so-called the intestinal capillariasis, was discovered at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). This is the first case reported in Taiwan.

Capillaria philippinesis is a parasite of fish-eating birds In nature it has a fish-bird life cycle. When human populations disrupt the natural cycle by eating raw fish infected with the larvae of C. philippinensis, they may acquire the disease.

Modification Of Sand Fly Biting Behavior By Leishmania Leads To Increased Parasite Transmission, Raymond Beach, Gabriel Kjilu, Johannis Leeuwenberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

To attempt rodent-sand fly-rodent transmission of Leishmania major, laboratory-reared Phlebotomus doboscqi were fed on L. major-infected mice and then refed on uninfected mice 21 days later. Flies which refed either probed 1–2 times and took a full blood meal in less than 10 minutes or probed 3 or more times and took little or no blood during a period of 15 minutes or more. When dissected, 7 of 8 flies which experienced difficulty in obtaining a blood meal had flagellates in their cibaria, an observation supporting the hypothesis that parasites in this part of the alimentary canal modify normal …

The Gizzard Worm And Its Transmission To Chickens In Hawaii, Joseph E. Alicata

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Gizzard-worms of poultry, Cheiloapirura hamulosa, are nematodes occurring in the gizzards of chickens and turkeys.

Summary and Conclusions

Previous to this report the carriers for the gizzard-worm in Hawaii were unknown. Recent investigations by the writer have shown that the flour beetle, Tenebroides nana, and the sand hopper, Orchestia platensis, collected from poultry farms in the Territory of Hawaii have been found naturally infested with the infective larvae of the poultry gizzard-worm, Cheilospirura hamulosa. Out of 8 laboratory-raised chickens to which there were fed about 2,300 grasshoppers that had been collected in an endemic gizzard-worm area, …

Summary Of Two Years' Study Of Insects In Relation To Pellagra, Allan H. Jennings

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Excerpt:

With the growing interest in pellagra, following the authoritative recognition of its presence in the United States in 1907, the study of its etiology was taken up by various investigators and the several theories of causation were subjected to close scrutiny.

Prominent among these theories was that of insect transmission, first advanced by Sambon, who limited this function to the species of blood-sucking gnats comprising the genus Simulium.

The importance of the disease and the possibility of such a factor in its causation, led the Bureau of Entomology, late in 1911, to undertake an investigation of the subject …

Dr. Nott's Theory Of Insect Causation Of Disease, William A. Riley

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Excerpt:

The danger in using isolated sentences from an article as a basis for interpreting the author's theories, is generally recognized, but sometimes the most careful workers fall into the trap. Once the mistaken interpretation is published, it may be copied over and over again until it rises to the dignity of a dogma.

A striking illustration is afforded by the practical unanimity with which writers on the subject of insects and disease credit Dr. Josiah Nott with being the earliest to formulate definitely the theory of mosquito transmission of yellow fever.

Nuttall, in his classic monograph On the Role …