Mutuku, M. W. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2024

Immune targets for schistosomiasis control identified by a genome-wide association study of East African snail vectors

Schistosomiasis, afflicting >260 million people worldwide, could be controlled by preventing infection of freshwater snail vectors. Intestinal schistosomiasis, caused by Schistosoma mansoni, occurs predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa and is vectored by Biomphalaria sudanica and related Biomphalaria species. Despite their importance in transmission, very little genomic work has been initiated in African snails, thus hindering development of novel control strategies. To identify genetic factors influencing snail resistance to schistosomes, we performed a pooled genome-wide association study (pooled-GWAS) on the offspring of B. sudanica collected from a persistent hotspot of schistosomiasis in Lake Victoria, Kenya, and exposed to sympatric S. mansoni. Results of the pooled-GWAS were used to develop an amplicon panel to validate candidate loci by genotyping individual snails. This validation revealed two previously uncharacterized, evolutionarily dynamic regions, SudRes1 and SudRes2, that were significantly associated with resistance. SudRes1 includes receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatases and SudRes2 includes a class of leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptors, both comprising diverse extracellular binding domains, suggesting roles in pathogen recognition. No loci previously tied to schistosome resistance in other snail species showed any association with compatibility suggesting that loci involved in the resistance of African vectors differ from those of neotropical vectors. Beyond these two loci, snail ancestry was strongly correlated with schistosome compatibility, indicating the importance of population structure on transmission dynamics and infection risk. These results provide the first detail of the innate immune system of the major schistosome vector, B. sudanica, informing future studies aimed at predicting and manipulating vector competence. Significance StatementAlthough schistosomiasis-associated morbidity and mortality have reduced significantly due to chemotherapy, interruption of transmission, a WHO goal, requires complimentary novel snail vector-focused interventions. We performed a genome-wide association study of snails exposed to schistosomes in an endemic area of high transmission in Kenya. We identified two snail genomic regions that were associated with snail immunity to schistosomes, and which had not previously been tied to parasite infection. The characterized protein structures are plausibly consistent with a role in host-parasite interaction. Therefore, they are new, potential targets for schistosomiasis control. These results show the need for focused research on transmission-relevant vectors and their genetic variants that could have a large impact on schistosome transmission dynamics and human health risk.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2022

Bulinus snails in the Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya: systematics and their role as hosts for schistosomes

The planorbid gastropod genus Bulinus consists of 38 species that vary in their ability to vector Schistosoma haematobium (the causative agent of human urogenital schistosomiasis), other Schistosoma species, and non-schistosome trematodes infecting animals. Relying on sequence-based identifications of bulinids (partial cox1 and 16S) and Schistosoma (cox1 and ITS), we examined Bulinus species in the Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya for naturally acquired infections with Schistosoma species. We collected 6,133 bulinids from 11 sites between 2014-2021, 226 (3.7%) of which harbored Schistosoma infections. We found 4 Bulinus taxa from Lake Victoria (B. truncatus, B. tropicus, B. ugandae, and B. cf. transversalis), and an additional 4 from other habitats (B. globosus, B. productus, B. forskalii, and B. scalaris). S. haematobium infections were found in B. globosus and B. productus (with infections in the former predominating) whereas S. bovis infections were identified in B. globosus, B. productus, B. forskalii, and B. ugandae. No nuclear/mitochondrial discordance potentially indicative of S. haematobium/S. bovis hybridization was detected. We highlight the presence of Bulinus ugandae as a distinct lake-dwelling taxon closely related to B. globosus yet, unlike all other members of the B. africanus species group, is likely not a vector for S. haematobium, though it does exhibit susceptibility to S. bovis. Other lake-dwelling bulinids also lacked S. haematobium infections, supporting the possibility that they all lack compatibility with local S. haematobium, thereby preventing widespread transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis in the lakes waters. We support B. productus as a distinct species from B. nasutus, B. scalaris as distinct from B. forskalii, and add further evidence for a B. globosus species complex with three lineages represented in Kenya alone. This study serves as an essential prelude for investigating why these patterns exist and whether the underlying biological mechanisms may be exploited for the purpose of limiting schistosome transmission. Author SummarySchistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by members of the genus Schistosoma. Every schistosome species is dependent on a particular species, or array of species, of intermediate snail host(s) for transmission. In the Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya, two related schistosome species (Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma bovis) utilize multiple species within the genus Bulinus as intermediate hosts. Discerning which bulinid species vector the agent of human schistosomiasis, which are vectors for bovine schistosomiasis, which are vectors for both, and identifying the habitats for each, is critical to understanding local transmission patterns. Confident snail species identification is a prerequisite for implicating a snail in transmission. Certain closely related bulinids cannot be confidently distinguished between using morphological criteria and previously published misidentifications have obscured the literature regarding where human schistosomiasis transmission occurs. This study used sequence-based methods to identify local bulinid species and to identify schistosomes from infected snails. Our results implicate two bulinid species in the transmission of S. haematobium and four species in the transmission of S. bovis. Both S. haematobium associated species were found exclusively in streams and dams in the Lake Victoria Basin thereby seemingly keeping the shores of Lake Victoria free of S. haematobium transmission.

molecular biology↗