Comparative and population genomic analyses of the parasitic blood flukes
type: CreativeWork
description: The etiological agents of schistosomiasis are snail-vectored, waterborne, parasitic trematodes of the genus Schistosoma. Schistosomes are considered a considerable public health concern responsible for infecting over 236 million people across 78 endemic nations. It is especially common among children in low and middle-income countries, with 90% of infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. As a consequence, they are now targeted by the World Health Organization for control and ultimately elimination through mass-drug administration (MDA), reliant on the only available drug, praziquantel. In this thesis, I first present the results of the first genomic study investigating the potential impact of long-term mass-drug administration (MDA) on Schistosoma mansoni populations, examining these populations from within Uganda with contrasting histories of past drug pressure, and sampling both pre- and post- praziquantel treatment. In particular, I examine how long-term MDA has impacted the population structure of S. mansoni and whether there is evidence of ongoing drug-induced selection that could represent the appearance of praziquantel drug resistance. In the following chapter, I reexamine this dataset along with additional samples from other genomic studies and newly sequenced samples. Using this more extensive dataset I explored population structure over larger spatial scales, identified clear evidence of hybridization with the closely related species S. rodhaini. In-depth sequencing of parasites infrapopulations permitted examination of the changes of infrapopulation relatedness after praziquantel treatment. Finally, I examined variation in a recently identified putative praziquantel resistance conferring gene. I then performed genomic characterization of livestock infective schistosome populations, focusing on the incidence of early generation hybrids between S. bovis and S. curassoni. In the following chapter I present the results of a long-term genome assembly projec…
abstract: The etiological agents of schistosomiasis are snail-vectored, waterborne, parasitic trematodes of the genus Schistosoma. Schistosomes are considered a considerable public health concern responsible for infecting over 236 million people across 78 endemic nations. It is especially common among children in low and middle-income countries, with 90% of infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. As a consequence, they are now targeted by the World Health Organization for control and ultimately elimination through mass-drug administration (MDA), reliant on the only available drug, praziquantel. In this thesis, I first present the results of the first genomic study investigating the potential impact of long-term mass-drug administration (MDA) on Schistosoma mansoni populations, examining these populations from within Uganda with contrasting histories of past drug pressure, and sampling both pre- and post- praziquantel treatment. In particular, I examine how long-term MDA has impacted the population structure of S. mansoni and whether there is evidence of ongoing drug-induced selection that could represent the appearance of praziquantel drug resistance. In the following chapter, I reexamine this dataset along with additional samples from other genomic studies and newly sequenced samples. Using this more extensive dataset I explored population structure over larger spatial scales, identified clear evidence of hybridization with the closely related species S. rodhaini. In-depth sequencing of parasites infrapopulations permitted examination of the changes of infrapopulation relatedness after praziquantel treatment. Finally, I examined variation in a recently identified putative praziquantel resistance conferring gene. I then performed genomic characterization of livestock infective schistosome populations, focusing on the incidence of early generation hybrids between S. bovis and S. curassoni. In the following chapter I present the results of a long-term genome assembly projec…
author: Berger, Duncan
language: eng
keywords: Population genomics, Parasitology, Genome assembly, Schistosomiasis
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2021-03-30
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:31Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.86667