Polymorphic microsatellites in the human bloodfluke, Schistosoma japonicum, identified using a genomic resource

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ning Xiao, Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Justin V Remais, Emory University; Paul J. Brindley, George Washington University; Dongchuan Qiu, Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Robert Spear, University of California; Yang Lei, Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention; David Blair, James Cook University
• Language: English
• Date: 2011-02-07
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2011 Xiao et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/4/1/13
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Parasites and Vectors
• ISSN: 1756-3305
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 13
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 4
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the NIH/NSF Ecology of Infectious Disease Program (grant no. 0622743) and the Emory Global Health Institute.
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Immunology; Health Sciences, Public Health; Biology, Parasitology

Abstract

Re-emergence of schistosomiasis in regions of China where control programs have ceased requires development of molecular-genetic tools to track gene flow and assess genetic diversity of Schistosoma populations. We identified many microsatellite loci in the draft genome of Schistosoma japonicum using defined search criteria and selected a subset for further analysis. From an initial panel of 50 loci, 20 new microsatellites were selected for eventual optimization and application to a panel of worms from endemic areas. All but one of the selected microsatellites contain simple tri-nucleotide repeats. Moderate to high levels of polymorphism were detected. Numbers of alleles ranged from 6 to 14 and observed heterozygosity was always >0.6. The loci reported here will facilitate high resolution population-genetic studies on schistosomes in re-emergent foci.