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JournalISSN: 0031-1820

Parasitology 

Cambridge University Press
About: Parasitology is an academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Schistosoma mansoni. It has an ISSN identifier of 0031-1820. Over the lifetime, 10197 publications have been published receiving 329191 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Ticks and tick-borne diseases affect animal and human health worldwide and are the cause of significant economic losses and although some estimates are given, there is a lack of reliable data.
Abstract: Ticks and tick-borne diseases affect animal and human health worldwide and are the cause of significant economic losses. Approximately 10% of the currently known 867 tick species act as vectors of a broad range of pathogens of domestic animals and humans and are also responsible for damage directly due to their feeding behaviour. The most important tick species and the effects they cause are listed. The impact on the global economy is considered to be high and although some estimates are given, there is a lack of reliable data. The impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases on animal production and public health and their control are discussed.

1,623 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors conclude that such associations may be responsible for much of the genetic diversity found within natural populations, from blood group polymorphisms to protein polymorphisms in general.
Abstract: The coevolution of parasites and their hosts has both general biological interest and practical implications in agricultural, veterinary and medical fields Surprisingly, most medical, parasitological and ecological texts dismiss the subject with unsupported statements to the effect that ‘successful’ parasite species evolve to be harmless to their hosts Recently, however, several people have explored theoretical aspects of the population genetics of host-parasite associations; these authors conclude that such associations may be responsible for much of the genetic diversity found within natural populations, from blood group polymorphisms (Haldane, 1949) to protein polymorphisms in general (Clarke, 1975, 1976) and to histocompatibility systems (Duncan, Wakeland & Klein, 1980) It has also been argued that pathogens may constitute the selective force responsible for the evolution and maintenance of sexual reproduction in animal and plant species (Jaenike, 1978; Hamilton, 1980, 1981, 1982; Bremermann, 1980)

1,511 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Smithers and Terry as discussed by the authors described techniques which are rapid and do not require great skill in their performance, and in their hands they have given very consistent results, in this respect they believe that these techniques have advantages over others which are currently practised.
Abstract: At present many laboratories throughout the world are studying the chemotherapy and immunology of Schistosoma mansoni in laboratory hosts. Many workers judge the success or failure of their attempts to cure or immunize these hosts from the ratio of the number of living adult worms recovered to the number of infecting cercariae. This ratio is affected, however, not only by the efficacy of any treatment, but also by the methods used to infect the animals and to recover the worms. If these methods result in widely varying worm recoveries amongst the animals in any experimental group, then small but significant effects of treatment might well be missed. Alternatively, such large experimental groups must be used that the work becomes tedious to perform and depends upon the availability of a great deal of technical assistance. This paper describes techniques which are rapid and do not require great skill in their performance. More important, in our hands they have given very consistent results. In this respect, particularly, we believe that these techniques have advantages over others which are currently practised.The techniques described here are those which were used in other investigations reported in this journal (Smithers & Terry, 1965a, b).The strain of S. mansoni used throughout this work was isolated in Puerto Rico and was obtained through the courtesy of Dr W. B. DeWitt of the National Institutes of Health. The parasite is maintained in an albino strain of Australorbis glabratus (Newton, 1955). Snails are exposed individually to ten miracidia overnight at 27 °C.

1,332 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Proteolytic activity was demonstrated in semi-purified trypanosome extracts, providing one reason for the heterogeneity sometimes observed in surface glycoprotein antigen preparations.
Abstract: Soluble glycoproteins have been purified from a series of clones of Trypanosoma brucei 427. Each clone yielded a characteristic predominant glycoprotein which induced clone-specific immunity to trypanosome infection in mice. These glycoproteins were shown by specific labelling and enzyme digestion of cells to be the major components of the trypanosome surface coat. Each glycoprotein consisted of a single polypeptide chain having an apparent molecular weight of 65 000 (as measured by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) and containing around 600 amino acid and 20 monosaccharide residues. Preliminary structural studies indicated large changes in amino acid sequence dispersed over a considerable length of the polypeptide chain. Proteolytic activity was demonstrated in semi-purified trypanosome extracts, providing one reason for the heterogeneity sometimes observed in surface glycoprotein antigen preparations.

845 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that, for certain types of host-parasite associations, convex curves of mean parasite abundance in relation to age (age-intensity curves), concomitant with a decline in the degree of dispersion in the older age, classes of hosts, may be evidence of the induction in host mortality by parasite infection.
Abstract: The paper examines the factors which generate various patterns of dispersion in the distribution of parasites within their host populations. Particular emphasis is placed on the role played by chance elements in the growth and decay of parasite populations and on the influence of different types of demographic processes. It is argued that observed distributions are dynamic, rather than static, entities generated by opposing forces, some acting to create over-dispersion and others acting to generate under-dispersion. Monte Carlo simulation experiments, based on probability models of the growth and decay of host and parasite populations, are used to study the dynamics of parasite dispersion. Attention is specifically focused on the role played by parasite-induced host mortality. It is shown that, for certain types of host–parasite associations, convex curves of mean parasite abundance in relation to age (age-intensity curves), concomitant with a decline in the degree of dispersion in the older age classes of hosts, may be evidence of the induction of host mortality by parasite infection. Empirical evidence is examined in light of this prediction. In general, however, simulation studies highlight the technical difficulties inherent in establishing clear evidence of parasite-induced host mortality from ecological studies of hosts and parasites in their natural habitats.

683 citations

Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Journal in previous years
YearPapers
2023120
2022332
2021220
2020186
2019193
201899