Showing papers by "Jean-François Allienne published in 2015"

A family of variable immunoglobulin and lectin domain containing molecules in the snail Biomphalaria glabrata.

Abstract: Technical limitations have hindered comprehensive studies of highly variable immune response molecules that are thought to have evolved due to pathogen-mediated selection such as fibrinogen-related proteins (FREPs) from Biomphalaria glabrata. FREPs combine upstream immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) domains with a C-terminal fibrinogen-related domain (FreD) and participate in reactions against trematode parasites. From RNAseq data we assembled a de novo reference transcriptome of B. glabrata to investigate the diversity of FREP transcripts. This study increased over two fold the number of bonafide FREP subfamilies and revealed important sequence diversity within FREP12 subfamily. We also report the discovery of related molecules that feature one or two IgSF domains associated with different C-terminal lectin domains, named C-type lectin-related proteins (CREPs) and Galectin-related protein (GREP). Together, the highly similar FREPs, CREPs and GREP were designated VIgL (Variable Immunoglobulin and Lectin domain containing molecules).

Introgressive hybridizations of Schistosoma haematobium by Schistosoma bovis at the origin of the first case report of schistosomiasis in Corsica (France, Europe)

Abstract: This study concerns the first urinary schistosomiasis case observed in Corsica (France, Europe) occurring in a 12-year-old German boy. The aim was to identify the relationship between this Schistosoma haematobium infection and other schistosomes of the Schistosoma group with terminal-spined ova. Morphological and molecular analyses were conducted on the ova. The results showed that the schistosome responsible for the emergence of schistosomiasis in Corsica was due to S. haematobium introgressed by genes from S. bovis.

A novel bacterial pathogen of Biomphalaria glabrata: a potential weapon for schistosomiasis control?

Abstract: The present paper reports the isolation and the characterization of a new microbial pathogen of the freshwater snail, Biomphalaria glabrata. Genetic analyses revealed that the species has not been previously described and could be classified into the Paenibacillus genus. These bacteria invade most snail tissues and proliferate, causing massive lethality. Moreover, the bacterial infection can be transmitted both vertically and horizontally to other snails, causing their death in 30 days. This discovery is potentially important because B. glabrata, as an intermediate host, plays an important role in transmitting schistosomiasis, the second-most widespread human parasitic disease. The World Health Organization’s objective of schistosomiasis eradication in a decade encourages the development of multiple approaches for countering the disease, one of which is vector population control. This new bacterial strain clearly could be a potential agent for such a strategy.

Correction: A Novel Bacterial Pathogen of Biomphalaria glabrata: A Potential Weapon for Schistosomiasis Control?

Abstract: There is an error in the penultimate sentence of the “Assay of snail survival after Paenibacillus exposure” subsection of the Methods section. The second primer in the parentheses should be GAGCAGTTTCTCTCCTTGTTC.

Changements globaux et infections parasitaires à mollusques vecteurs - Un schistosome hybride atteint l’Europe

Abstract: La schistosomiase, ou bilharziose, est une maladie parasitaire tropicale et subtropicale causee par des parasites qui habitent les vaisseaux sanguins humains et sont transmis par des mollusques d’eau douce specifiques. L’infection humaine se produit par la penetration transcutanee du stade larvaire infectieux du parasite emis par le mollusque vecteur, dans l’eau de baignade.