Schistosomiasis: publication of genetic map will stimulate research

3 Jul 2009

Paul Chinnock

Source: Genome Biology (see original article)

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Eggs of the schistosomiasis parasite, Schistosoma mansoni.

Schistosomiasis is, after malaria, the second most common parasitic disease. It can damage internal organs and cause growth and cognitive impairment in children. About 200 million people are infected with schistosomiasis, 85% of them in sub-Saharan Africa, and it causes about 200,000 deaths a year.

Genome researchers in San Antonio, Texas have constructed a linkage map for the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni, one of the main causes of the disease. Their work is published in the open access journal Genome Biology (1). The researchers say they hope the map will stimulate research and open doors to new advances in combating this neglected human pathogen.

One of the research team, Timothy Anderson, said: “If we can understand why parasites can be resistant to drugs, if we can understand the biochemical pathways that are attacked by these drugs, we can re-engineer those drugs so they do work, or we can design new drugs”.

The researchers used two adult flukes to breed 88 S. mansoni flukes. By comparing the genetic information of the offspring to the parents, they were able to generate a genetic map of the chromosomes of the pathogen.

According to another member of the team Charles Criscione: “Linkage mapping has been very successful for mapping the genes underlying outward traits in a number of parasitic organisms. In malaria parasites, the linkage map has resulted in the identification of major genes underlying drug resistance and host specificity. Similarly, linkage maps of the parasitic protozoans, Toxoplasma and Eimeria have resulted in mapping of factors underlying acute virulence”.

Dr Criscione said the map would help overcome the current lack of tools available to study S. mansoni’s molecular, quantitative and population genetics, and provide a fundamental framework for tackling both applied and basic questions about S. mansoni: “The map has multiple applications for developmental and evolutionary biology. It will facilitate high resolution population genetic studies of S. mansoni, which will improve our understanding of transmission patterns in affected areas. The map presented expands the genetic toolkit for S. mansoni providing opportunities to understand fundamental features of blood fluke biology, and opening doors to new advances in combating this neglected human pathogen”.

Reference

1. Criscione CD, Valentim CL, Hirai H, Loverde PT, Anderson TJ (2009). Genomic linkage map of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. Genome Biol; 30;10(6):R71. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19566921