International journal for parasitology最新文献_第2页

Ambient temperature storage in DESS supports molecular studies of benzimidazole resistance from canine hookworm eggs DESS环境温度储存支持犬钩虫卵对苯并咪唑抗性的分子研究。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-22 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.10.005

Yi-Jou Chen , Vanessa Li , Michelle Suwandy , Ioana Bianca Mitrea , Douglas Hayward , Susan Jaensch , Emily Kate Francis , Jan Šlapeta

{"title":"Ambient temperature storage in DESS supports molecular studies of benzimidazole resistance from canine hookworm eggs","authors":"Yi-Jou Chen , Vanessa Li , Michelle Suwandy , Ioana Bianca Mitrea , Douglas Hayward , Susan Jaensch , Emily Kate Francis , Jan Šlapeta","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Emerging benzimidazole resistance in canine hookworms poses a growing concern for veterinary and public health. Molecular diagnostics targeting β-tubulin gene mutations are essential for resistance surveillance but traditionally rely on refrigerated faecal samples. This study evaluates dimethyl sulfoxide, EDTA, and saturated NaCl (DESS) as a room-temperature preservation medium for canine faeces. Using ITS-2 rDNA and isotype-1 β-tubulin gene (<em>tubb-1</em>) amplicon metabarcoding, we compared DNA integrity and diagnostic performance of DESS-preserved samples (4, 28, and 106 days) to refrigerated controls. No significant differences in PCR amplification or sequencing outcomes were observed. DESS enabled reliable detection of hookworm species and resistance-associated SNPs, including F167Y in <em>tubb-1</em>, with mutation frequencies consistent across treatments. Therefore, DESS can preserve samples from remote settings without cold chain logistics. Our findings validate DESS as a robust alternative for sample collection for molecular parasitology, facilitating expanded surveillance of anthelmintic resistance in field conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":"56 5","pages":"Article 104745"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145367910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Unveiling hidden parasite diversity: Long-read mitogenomics in Eimeriidae and Haemosporida (Eukaryota: Apicomplexa) 揭示隐藏的寄生虫多样性：艾虫科和血孢子虫的长读有丝分裂基因组学（真核生物：顶复合体）。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.104764

Peihang Hong , Sijia Yu , Hau-You Tzeng , Tzu-Chun Chou , Hsin-Yu Lin , Tung Yee Shiu , Yu-Hsuan Lin , Cheng-You Lu , Chao-Min Wang , Cheng-Hung Lai , Shyun Chou , Toshihiro Tokiwa

{"title":"Unveiling hidden parasite diversity: Long-read mitogenomics in Eimeriidae and Haemosporida (Eukaryota: Apicomplexa)","authors":"Peihang Hong , Sijia Yu , Hau-You Tzeng , Tzu-Chun Chou , Hsin-Yu Lin , Tung Yee Shiu , Yu-Hsuan Lin , Cheng-You Lu , Chao-Min Wang , Cheng-Hung Lai , Shyun Chou , Toshihiro Tokiwa","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.104764","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.104764","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mitochondrial genomes of apicomplexan parasites exhibit remarkable structural diversity, ranging from highly reduced linear molecules to circular-mapping concatemers, yet their full characterization has been hindered by technical limitations in resolving complex infections. This study establishes a novel integrated workflow combining one-step PCR amplification with Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) to sequence complete mitochondrial genomes from Eimeriidae and Haemosporida parasites. Successful assembly of 29 high-quality mitogenomes (12 Eimeriidae, 17 Haemosporida) from 15 samples, demonstrating the method’s sensitivity. Comparative analyses revealed cryptic mixed/co-infections in 11 samples that were undetectable by Sanger sequencing, highlighting ONT’s superior resolution for uncovering true parasite diversity. Phylogenomic reconstruction using the largest Eimeriidae dataset to date confirmed the monophyly of passeriform <em>Isospora</em> and identified a basal position for a novel <em>Caryospora</em> lineage from <em>Ptyas major</em>. In Haemosporida, analysis of 202 mitogenomes revealed non-monophyletic familial relationships. Selection analyses indicated predominant purifying selection in mitochondrial protein-coding genes of Eimeriidae. Our findings underscore the utility of long-read mitogenomics in elucidating complex infection dynamics and provide a scalable framework for biodiversity surveys of understudied apicomplexans parasites, with implications for understanding their evolutionary ecology and host-parasite interactions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":"56 5","pages":"Article 104764"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145878267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Let's ask again: are there general laws in parasite ecology? 让我们再问一次：寄生虫生态学中是否存在普遍规律？

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-30 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104870

Robert Poulin

{"title":"Let's ask again: are there general laws in parasite ecology?","authors":"Robert Poulin","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104870","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104870","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ecologists have long sought recurring and predictable patterns in nature, not contingent on habitat type, local conditions or taxa involved, indicative of universal processes creating some order in natural systems. Are there such general laws in parasite ecology? Here, I propose 16 frequently reported patterns, manifesting across all host and parasite taxa, that I consider to represent general laws applying to the ecology of metazoan parasites. I also discuss briefly pseudo-laws, i.e., patterns that lack the strength or generality to qualify as laws. The proposed laws characterise repeatable patterns in the abundance, biomass, distribution, diversity and/or other basic traits of parasites, and the processes underpinning them, whether or not these are known. The different laws span several scales, from the patterns applying among host individuals at a local scale, to those observed globally across species or geographical areas. Each proposed law is subjectively categorised based on the quantity and quality of published empirical evidence supporting it, reflecting its strength and universality. Relationships between different laws are emphasised, to highlight the connections between their underlying mechanistic bases, as are the parallels with broader ecological laws documented for free-living organisms. Close examination suggests that many laws of parasite ecology are essentially manifestations of ecological laws applying to all organisms. Nevertheless, identifying regular, repeatable and nearly universal patterns in parasite ecology provides us with a powerful heuristic tool to forecast future host-parasite interactions in the fast-changing Anthropocene.</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104870"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147814640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Early prediction of declining health associated with helminth infection in small ruminants using accelerometers and machine learning. 利用加速计和机器学习对小型反刍动物与蠕虫感染相关的健康下降进行早期预测。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104867

Axel X Montout, Ranjeet S Bhamber, Nlingisisi D Babayani, Eric R Morgan, Christos C Ioannou, Thomas H Terrill, Jan A van Wyk, Tilo Burghardt, Andrew W Dowsey

{"title":"Early prediction of declining health associated with helminth infection in small ruminants using accelerometers and machine learning.","authors":"Axel X Montout, Ranjeet S Bhamber, Nlingisisi D Babayani, Eric R Morgan, Christos C Ioannou, Thomas H Terrill, Jan A van Wyk, Tilo Burghardt, Andrew W Dowsey","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104867","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104867","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Assessment of the health status of individual animals is a key step in the timely and targeted treatment of infections, which is critical in the fight to slow the development of anthelmintic and antimicrobial resistance. The FAMACHA scoring system has been used successfully to detect anaemia caused by infection with the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus in small ruminants and is an effective way to identify individuals in need of treatment. However, assessing FAMACHA is labour-intensive and costly, as individuals must be manually examined at frequent intervals. Here, accelerometers were used to measure the individual activity of extensively grazing small ruminants (sheep and goats) exposed to natural Haemonchus contortus worm infection in southern Africa, over long time scales (13 + months). When combined with machine learning, this activity data can predict poorer health (increases in FAMACHA score) in sheep with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 82.7%, as well as to identify animals that fail to respond to treatment with AUC of 66.4%. We demonstrate that these classifiers remain robust over time, and that interpretation of their trained results reveals that poorer health, such as that resulting from haemonchosis, significantly affects the night-time activity levels, more so than that of the daytime. Our study thus reveals that low-cost biologgers can exploit behavioural patterns to detect subtle changes in animal health and enable timely and targeted intervention. This has real potential to improve economic outcomes and animal welfare, as well as to limit the use of anthelmintic drugs and diminish selective pressures on anthelmintic resistance in both commercial and resource-poor communal farming.</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104867"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147814658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

From pathology to phylogeny: Highly rearranged mitochondrial genome of the emerging testudine intranuclear coccidium. 从病理学到系统发育：新出现的核内球虫线粒体基因组高度重排。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-24 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104855

Peihang Hong, Kana Matsumoto, Hisashi Yoshimura, Sijia Yu, Yen-Chi Chang, Hau-You Tzeng, Tzu-Chun Chou, Hsin-Yu Lin, Tung Yee Shiu, Ryotaro Suzuki, Tetsuya Tanabe, Makoto Haritani, Shyun Chou, Toshihiro Tokiwa, Masami Yamamoto

{"title":"From pathology to phylogeny: Highly rearranged mitochondrial genome of the emerging testudine intranuclear coccidium.","authors":"Peihang Hong, Kana Matsumoto, Hisashi Yoshimura, Sijia Yu, Yen-Chi Chang, Hau-You Tzeng, Tzu-Chun Chou, Hsin-Yu Lin, Tung Yee Shiu, Ryotaro Suzuki, Tetsuya Tanabe, Makoto Haritani, Shyun Chou, Toshihiro Tokiwa, Masami Yamamoto","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104855","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The testudine intranuclear coccidium (TINC) is an emerging, globally significant apicomplexan pathogen responsible for severe multisystemic disease in captive chelonians. In this study, samples were obtained from deceased captive Sri Lankan star tortoise (Geochelone elegans) in Taiwan and leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis) in Japan for comprehensive pathological and molecular analysis. Histopathological examination of three cases confirmed systemic infection characterized by intranuclear inclusions within epithelial cells of multiple organs, with lesions ranging from widespread coagulative necrosis to degenerative changes. Transmission electron microscopy further identified multiple intranuclear developmental stages, including trophozoites, meronts, and gamonts. Utilizing Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing, we present the first complete mitochondrial genome of TINC, which exhibits a novel and highly rearranged architecture divergent from conserved patterns in the family Eimeriidae, featuring flanking direct and inverted repeats not previously reported in this family. Phylogenetic reconstructions using both 18S ribosomal RNA gene and concatenated mitochondrial protein-coding genes consistently place TINC within a robust, distinct clade situated between the families Eimeriidae and Sarcocystidae. Comparative sequence analysis of the partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene confirmed genetic identity across TINC from different cases. These integrated pathological and genomic results define TINC as a genetically distinct lineage with unique molecular features, providing critical data for its taxonomic revision and new insights into mitochondrial genome evolution at the interface of two major apicomplexan families.</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104855"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147770299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Testing the "niche centroid hypothesis" in flea-mammal networks from the palearctic: species' centrality across their environmental niches. 在古北地区的跳蚤-哺乳动物网络中测试“生态位质心假说”：物种在其环境生态位中的中心性。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-17 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104854

Boris R Krasnov, Georgy I Shenbrot, Vasily I Grabovsky, Maxim V Vinarski, Natalia P Korallo-Vinarskaya

{"title":"Testing the \"niche centroid hypothesis\" in flea-mammal networks from the palearctic: species' centrality across their environmental niches.","authors":"Boris R Krasnov, Georgy I Shenbrot, Vasily I Grabovsky, Maxim V Vinarski, Natalia P Korallo-Vinarskaya","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104854","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104854","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A species' centrality in a network is expected to decrease with distance from the centroid of its environmental niche. We investigated the variation of a species' centrality in flea-mammal networks across the space of its niche for 30 flea and 21 small mammal species occurring in 10-46 networks from different localities in the Palearctic. We characterized the environmental niche of a flea or a host species using the ellipsoid envelope model, based on a species' occurrence points and climatic, soil, and vegetation data. We found significant relationships between centrality in a network and the distance from the centroid of environmental niche in 14 of 30 flea species. In seven of these species, the centrality in a network either increased or decreased with an increase in the distance from the environmental centroid. In another seven species, the pattern was either U-shaped or inverted U-shaped. Among 20 host species, significant centrality-niche centroid relationships were found in only two species, being either linear with a positive slope or quadratic with a negative slope. We explain the lack of a general tendency of flea and host species' centrality in flea-host networks to decrease with an increase in the distance from the environmental niche centroid by the variable effects of species-specific life history traits. We also conclude that the most likely reason behind the difference between fleas and hosts in the occurrence of this tendency is their differential functions in the networks (consumers versus resources, respectively).</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104854"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147722795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The development and validation of long-read ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2 nemabiome metabarcoding for ovine gastrointestinal nematodes using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing. 利用Oxford Nanopore Technologies （ONT）测序技术开发和验证绵羊胃肠道线虫长读段ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2线虫组元条形码。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-15 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104850

Eléonore Charrier, Rebecca Chen, Elizabeth Redman, Sawsan Ammar, Camila Meira, Camila Queiroz, John S Gilleard

{"title":"The development and validation of long-read ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2 nemabiome metabarcoding for ovine gastrointestinal nematodes using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing.","authors":"Eléonore Charrier, Rebecca Chen, Elizabeth Redman, Sawsan Ammar, Camila Meira, Camila Queiroz, John S Gilleard","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104850","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104850","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Internal Transcribed Spacer ITS-2 rRNA nemabiome metabarcoding is increasingly used to characterize gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) communities. While powerful, current approaches have some limitations in their flexibility and applicability to smaller-scale studies and diagnostic use. The short read lengths provided by the Illumina platform may lack discriminatory power for some closely related species and also pose a challenge for new marker selection and primer design. To address these challenges, we have developed ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2 rRNA Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) long-read metabarcoding for ovine gastrointestinal nematodes. Samples from two previous field studies, from UK and western Canadian sheep farms were used. ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2 long-read metabarcoding showed strong concordance with prior ITS-2 data for the major GIN species in both datasets, with minor discrepancies for some low abundance taxa mainly due to differences in reference sequence database representation. We also used the PrimerTC tool to design a new primer pair, EC1 and EC2, to minimize the amplification of off-target fungal sequences derived from fecal DNA and maximize the nematode sequence read depth when ONT ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2 metabarcoding was applied directly to ovine fecal stool DNA. In summary, ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2 ONT long-read nemabiome metabarcoding showed good agreement with ITS-2 metabarcoding and the use of primer pair EC1/EC2 should make the approach more tolerant of fecal contamination of parasite material, with the potential for direct application to ovine fecal DNA. Overall, these new developments should make nemabiome metabarcoding more accessible, discriminating, and flexible for both research and diagnostic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104850"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147716556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Integrating age-dependent pig susceptibility and spatial exposure heterogeneity improves agent-based modeling of Taenia solium transmission. 整合猪的年龄依赖性易感性和空间暴露异质性改进了基于agent的猪带绦虫传播模型。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-15 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104853

Francesco Pizzitutti, Gabrielle Bonnet, Eloy Gonzales-Gustavson, Sarah Gabriël, William K Pan, Armando E Gonzalez, Hector H Garcia, Seth E O'Neal

{"title":"Integrating age-dependent pig susceptibility and spatial exposure heterogeneity improves agent-based modeling of Taenia solium transmission.","authors":"Francesco Pizzitutti, Gabrielle Bonnet, Eloy Gonzales-Gustavson, Sarah Gabriël, William K Pan, Armando E Gonzalez, Hector H Garcia, Seth E O'Neal","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104853","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104853","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Taenia solium causes an estimated 2.8 million disability-adjusted life years annually and substantial economic burdens in endemic regions. Understanding pig infection dynamics is essential for control, yet age-dependent susceptibility, acquired immunity, and spatially heterogeneous exposure are rarely represented in transmission models. We integrated experimental infection data across pig age groups into a local-scale agent-based model (ABM) of T. solium transmission. The model includes age-related susceptibility peaking at weaning, immunity elicited by egg exposure, and heterogeneous pig-environment interactions derived from GPS-tracked movements. We compared four model configurations: baseline, immunity only, exposure heterogeneity only, and combined. Calibration and validation used human taeniasis and pig cysticercosis prevalence data from eight rural Peruvian villages; intervention scenarios included mass vaccination and anthelmintic treatment. All configurations fit observed data well, but models incorporating heterogeneous susceptibility concentrated 95% of infections before 6.5 months (versus distributed across lifespan in baseline). The combined model best reproduced empirical cyst burden distributions, with 2.2% of pigs harboring 87% of total cysts, approaching the observed 99.2% aggregation. Immunity attenuated post-intervention prevalence rebounds. Mass pig vaccination reduced pig cysticercosis prevalence by 16% in models without immunity but had negligible effect when immunity was included, indicating age-targeted interventions are essential; lower age cut-off needs maternal immunity data for cost-effective control. Integrating pig immunity and exposure heterogeneity improves T. solium transmission model realism and provides a more accurate framework for intervention design and evaluation.</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104853"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147716553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The application of ultrastructure expansion microscopy reveals the apical microtubule architecture of Babesia. 应用超微结构扩展显微镜揭示巴贝斯虫的顶端微管结构。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-14 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104851

Viktoriya Levytska, Alexey Bondar, Ana Maria Filipe, Jana Kopecka, Daniel Sojka, Marie Jalovecka

{"title":"The application of ultrastructure expansion microscopy reveals the apical microtubule architecture of Babesia.","authors":"Viktoriya Levytska, Alexey Bondar, Ana Maria Filipe, Jana Kopecka, Daniel Sojka, Marie Jalovecka","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104851","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104851","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tick-transmitted apicomplexan parasites of the genus Babesia infect vertebrate red blood cells and cause babesiosis in humans and animals. Detailed studies of their subcellular organization have been constrained by their small size and intracellular development. In this study, we report the identification of a previously unrecognized apical tubulin rosette (ATRo) in Babesia divergens - a unique rosette-like microtubule structure located at the apical pole of the parasite. The ATRo consists of 6-7 radial spines and represents a distinct architecture that appears morphologically different from the conoid of Toxoplasma and the apical polar rings described in Plasmodium. This discovery was enabled by applying Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy (U-ExM) to Babesia. U-ExM achieved a 4.3-fold isotropic expansion of the parasite and allowed nanoscale visualization of internal structures using conventional fluorescence labeling and standard confocal microscopy. Using tubulin-specific antibodies, we obtained preliminary insights into the tubulin architecture of the B. divergens apical end. U-ExM provided resolution comparable to transmission electron microscopy (TEM), while offering easier sample preparation, higher throughput and compatibility with proteomic markers, including multiplex immunostaining. These findings establish U-ExM as a powerful new tool for studying Babesia ultrastructure and developmental dynamics and offer a new entry point for exploring invasion mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104851"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147690039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The spatial distribution of dispersal-phase adult Varroa destructor mites on two strains of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) in New Zealand. 新西兰两种蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）弥散期成年瓦螨的空间分布。

IF 3.2 2区医学

International journal for parasitology Pub Date : 2026-04-12 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104852

Tessa Pilkington, John Haywood, Philip J Lester

{"title":"The spatial distribution of dispersal-phase adult Varroa destructor mites on two strains of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) in New Zealand.","authors":"Tessa Pilkington, John Haywood, Philip J Lester","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104852","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpara.2026.104852","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ectoparasite Varroa destructor (hereafter Varroa) poses a major threat to Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, populations. Synthetic chemical mite control treatments can have negative effects on bee health and are becoming less effective as mites develop pesticide resistance. A deeper understanding of the behaviour and adaptations of Varroa, and its interactions with A. mellifera, may aid in designing mite control strategies. This study investigates the host-parasite dynamics of A. mellifera and Varroa by examining the spatial distribution of adult dispersal-phase mites on a Varroa-susceptible strain and a Varroa-resistant strain of New Zealand honey bees. Mite distribution patterns in previous investigations are reviewed and compared, with differences between strains examined to determine whether parasitisation patterns reflect inherent mite resistance in a resistant population. No significant difference was observed between the spatial distribution of mites in the susceptible and resistant bee populations. Consistent with previous investigations, a significant asymmetry in mite location was observed. A total of 63.1% and 62.0% of metasoma mites found on the left side of the bee, and 83.5% and 85.5% found on the third abdominal segment, for Varroa-resistant and Varroa-susceptible bee populations, respectively. The mechanism of resistance strain therefore seems unlikely to be associated with differences in mite parasitisation patterns. Whether this asymmetric distribution is a result of parasite or host behaviour is unclear, however, discovering the underlying reason for this pattern of mite parasitisation may reveal information about the host-parasite relationship that could be exploited to devise novel mite control methods.</p>","PeriodicalId":13725,"journal":{"name":"International journal for parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"104852"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147673006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0