Genomic evidence of contemporary hybridization between Schistosoma species

Berger, D. J. et al. (2022) Genomic evidence of contemporary hybridization between Schistosoma species. PLoS Pathogens, 18(8), e1010706. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010706) (PMID:35939508) (PMCID:PMC9387932)

Abstract

Hybridization between different species of parasites is increasingly being recognised as a major public and veterinary health concern at the interface of infectious diseases biology, evolution, epidemiology and ultimately control. Recent research has revealed that viable hybrids and introgressed lineages between Schistosoma spp. are prevalent across Africa and beyond, including those with zoonotic potential. However, it remains unclear whether these hybrid lineages represent recent hybridization events, suggesting hybridization is ongoing, and/or whether they represent introgressed lineages derived from ancient hybridization events. In human schistosomiasis, investigation is hampered by the inaccessibility of adult-stage worms due to their intravascular location, an issue which can be circumvented by post-mortem of livestock at abattoirs for Schistosoma spp. of known zoonotic potential. To characterise the composition of naturally-occurring schistosome hybrids, we performed whole-genome sequencing of 21 natural livestock infective schistosome isolates. To facilitate this, we also assembled a de novo chromosomal-scale draft assembly of Schistosoma curassoni. Genomic analyses identified isolates of S. bovis, S. curassoni and hybrids between the two species, all of which were early generation hybrids with multiple generations found within the same host. These results show that hybridization is an ongoing process within natural populations with the potential to further challenge elimination efforts against schistosomiasis.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 206194); the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for International Development, the Economic & Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, under the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems (ZELS) programme (grant number BB/L018985/1 to JPW and MS and grant number BB/S013822/1 to JPW, MS and NDD). FA, AE and MR received funding from the Wellcome Trust (grant number 104958/Z/14/Z).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cotton, Professor James
• Authors: Berger, D. J., Léger, E., Sankaranarayanan, G., Sène, M., Diouf, N. D., Rabone, M., Emery, A., Allan, F., Cotton, J. A., Berriman, M., and Webster, J. P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: PLoS Pathogens
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1553-7366
• ISSN (Online): 1553-7374
• Published Online: 08 August 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 Berger et al.
• First Published: First published in PLoS Pathogens 18(8):e1010706
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license