Schistosomiasis is considered as a significant public health problem, imposing a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between parasites and their hosts. Unfortunately, current invasive methodologies employed to study the compatibility and the parasite development impose limitations on exploring diverse strains under various environmental conditions, thereby impeding progress in the field. In this study, we demonstrate the usefulness for the trematode parasite , leveranging a fluorescence-imaging-based approach that employs fluorescein 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA) and 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMAC) as organism tracker for intramolluscan studies involving the host snail These probes represent key tools for qualitatively assessing snail infections with unmatched accuracy and precision.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn living cells, the genetic information stored in the DNA sequence is always associated with chromosomal and extra-chromosomal epigenetic information. Chromatin is formed by the DNA and associated proteins, in particular histones. Covalent histone modifications are important bearers of epigenetic information and as such have been increasingly studied since about the year 2000.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn model organisms, epigenome dynamics underlies a plethora of biological processes. The role of epigenetic modifications in development and parasitism in nematode pests remains unknown. The root-knot nematode adapts rapidly to unfavorable conditions, despite its asexual reproduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rhesus macaque provides a unique model of acquired immunity against schistosomes, which afflict >200 million people worldwide. By monitoring bloodstream levels of parasite-gut-derived antigen, we show that from week 10 onwards an established infection with Schistosoma mansoni is cleared in an exponential manner, eliciting resistance to reinfection. Secondary challenge at week 42 demonstrates that protection is strong in all animals and complete in some.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemical composition and herbicidal, antifungal, antibacterial and molluscicidal activities of essential oils from Choukzerk, , and Alexander, , from western Algeria were characterized. Capillary GC-FID and GC/MS were used to investigate chemical composition of both essential oils, and the antifungal, antibacterial, molluscicidal and herbicidal activities were determined by % inhibition. Collective essential oil of was dominated by falcarinol (74.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe here a protocol for the generation of sequence-ready libraries for population epigenomics studies, and the analysis of alignment results. We show that the protocol can be used to monitor chromatin structure changes in populations when exposed to environmental cues. The protocol is a streamlined version of the Assay for transposase accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) that provides a positive display of accessible, presumably euchromatic regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCorrection to: Chapter 9 in: David J. Timson (ed.), Schistosoma mansoni: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Freshwater snails are the intermediate hosts of a large variety of trematode flukes such as Schistosoma mansoni responsible for one of the most important parasitic diseases caused by helminths, affecting 67 million people worldwide. Recently, the WHO Global Vector Control Response 2017-2030 (GVCR) programme reinforced its message for safer molluscicides as part of required strategies to strengthen vector control worldwide. Here, we present the essential oil from Eryngium triquetrum as a powerful product with molluscicide and parasiticide effect against S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDNA-binding proteins play critical roles in many major processes such as development and sexual biology of Schistosoma mansoni and are important for the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) are useful to characterize the association of genomic regions with posttranslational chemical modifications of histone proteins. Challenges in the standard ChIP protocol have motivated recent enhancements in this approach, such as reducing the number of cells required and increasing the resolution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvidence of how environmental cues affect the phenotypes of, and compatibility between and their hosts come from studies in environmental parasitology and research on host diet and chemotherapeutic treatment. Schistosomes deal with a multitude of signals from the water environment as well as cues that come from their hosts, particularly in response to molecules that serve to recognize and destroy them, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorldwide schistosomiasis remains a serious public health problem with approximately 67 million people infected and 200 million at risk of infection from inhabiting or transiting endemically active regions. Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East are the main transmission regions of . The fight against transmission through the use of molluscicides is not recent and has been advocated as the only activity with the possibility of interruption of transmission in small, epidemiologically active outbreaks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpigenetic mechanisms and chromatin structure play an important role in development. Their impact is therefore expected to be strong in parasites with complex life cycles and multiple, strikingly different, developmental stages, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchistosomiasis is an important parasitic disease, touching roughly 200 million people worldwide. The causative agents are different species. Schistosomes have a complex life cycle, with a freshwater snail as intermediate host.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExp Parasitol
December 2017
Background: Schistosomiasis has been reported in 78 endemic countries and affects 240 million people worldwide. The digenetic parasite Schistosoma mansoni needs fresh water to compete its life cycle. There, it is susceptible to soluble compounds that can affect directly and/or indirectly the parasite's biology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article presents an improvement to the Kato-Katz (KK) method, making it faster and more efficient for the visualisation of fertile eggs in stool samples. This modified KK method uses sodium acetate formalin as a fixative and reveals the intensity of infection in less than 1 h, reducing the diagnostic time without increasing the cost. This modified method may contribute to future epidemiological studies in both hospitals and the field due to its rapid and precise diagnostic, which allow for immediate treatment.
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