Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T06:49:24.065Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Increased oviposition and growth in immature Biomphalaria glabrata after exposure to Schistosoma mansoni

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Joyce A. Thornhill ,
Janet T. Jones  and
J. R. Kusel
Joyce A. Thornhill
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Janet T. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
J. R. Kusel
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Biomphalaria glabrata snails are known to be castrated by infection with the trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni 4–6 weeks post-infection. The pattern of oviposition in the first 35 days post-exposure (p.e.) was investigated, in snails aged 14 weeks and measuring 7–10 mm diameter which had not commenced egg-laying, by counting the numbers of eggs laid in 7-day intervals. A group of exposed snails was compared with a control non-exposed group. The exposed group included both parasitized and non-parasitized snails, and showed a significant increase in the median number of eggs laid during the periods 14–21 and 22–28 days p.e. Throughout the entire 35-day period exposed non-parasitized snails laid significantly more eggs than control snails, while parasitized snails laid significantly more eggs than controls during days 22–28 p.e. and significantly fewer during days 29–35 p.e. Parasitized snails also laid significantly more eggs/egg mass in the period 16–28 days p.e. than did control snails. Growth of the snails was measured. By day 28 p.e. the mean diameter of the exposed group was significantly greater than that of the control group. The increase in oviposition by snails soon after exposure is discussed in terms of a compensatory response for expected future suppression of egg-laying. The fact that parasitized and non-parasitized snails both show increased oviposition indicates that normal development of the parasite is not necessary to trigger the response.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 93 , Issue 3 , December 1986 , pp. 443 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, R. M., Mercer, J. G., Wilson, R. A. & Carter, N. P. (1982). Transmission of Schistosoma mansoni from man to snail: experimental studies of miracidial survival and infectivity in relation to larval age, water temperature, host size and host age. Parasitology 85, 339–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baudoin, M. (1975). Host castration as a parasitic strategy. Evolution 29, 335–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, T. W. (1983). Schistosoma mansoni: the structure and elemental composition of pre-acetabular penetration gland cell secretion in pre-emergent cercariae. Parasitology 87, 55–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, T. W. & Erasmus, D. A. (1984). An ultra-structural study of the effect of parasitism by larval Schistosoma mansoni on the calcium reserves of the host, Biomphalaria glabrata. Cell and Tissue Research 236, 643–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etges, F. J. & Gresso, W. (1965). Effect of Schistosoma mansoni infection upon fecundity in Australorbis glabratus. Journal of Parasitology 51, 757–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lie, K. J., Jeong, K. H. & Heyneman, D. (1983). Acquired resistance in snails. Induction of resistance to Schistosoma mansoni in Biomphalaria glabrata. International Journal for Parasitology 13, 301–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meuleman, E. A. (1972). Host-parasite inter-relationships between the freshwater pulmonate Biomphalaria pfeifferi and the trematode Schistosoma mansoni. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 22, 355–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minchella, D. J. (1985). Host life-history variation in response to parasitism. Parasitology 90, 205–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minchella, D. J. & Loverde, P. T. (1981). A cost of increased early reproductive effort in the snail Biomphalaria glabrata. The American Naturalist 118, 876–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minchella, D. J. & Loverde, P. T. (1983). Laboratory comparison of the relative success of Biomphalaria glabrata stocks which are susceptible and insusceptible to infection with Schistosoma mansoni. Parasitology 86, 335–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newton, W. L. (1955). The establishment of a strain of Australorbis glabrata which combines albinism and high susceptibility to infection with Schistosoma mansoni. Journal of Parasitology 41, 526–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noble, E. R. & Noble, G. A. (1971) Parasitology: The Biology of Animal Parasites. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.Google Scholar
Pan, C. T. (1965). Studies on the host-parasite relationship between Schistosoma mansoni and the snail Australorbis glabratus. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 14, 931–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith Trail, D. R. (1980). Behavioural interactions between parasites and hosts: host suicide and the evolution of complex life cycles. The American Naturalist 116, 77–91.Google Scholar
Smithers, S. R. & Terry, R. J. (1965). The infection of laboratory hosts with cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni and the recovery of adult worms. Parasitology 55, 695–700.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sturrock, B. M. & Sturrock, R. F. (1970). Laboratory studies of the host-parasite relationship of Schistosoma mansoni and Biomphalaria glabrata from St Lucia, West Indies. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 64, 357–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed