Taxonomy, phylogeny and molecular epidemiology of Echinococcus multilocularis: From fundamental knowledge to health ecology.

Knapp, Jenny; Gottstein, Bruno; Saarma, Urmas; Millon, Laurence (2015). Taxonomy, phylogeny and molecular epidemiology of Echinococcus multilocularis: From fundamental knowledge to health ecology. Veterinary parasitology, 213(3-4), pp. 85-91. Elsevier 10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.07.030

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Alveolar echinococcosis, caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, is one of the most severe parasitic diseases in humans and represents one of the 17 neglected diseases prioritised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2012. Considering the major medical and veterinary importance of this parasite, the phylogeny of the genus Echinococcus is of considerable importance; yet, despite numerous efforts with both mitochondrial and nuclear data, it has remained unresolved. The genus is clearly complex, and this is one of the reasons for the incomplete understanding of its taxonomy. Although taxonomic studies have recognised E. multilocularis as a separate entity from the Echinococcus granulosus complex and other members of the genus, it would be premature to draw firm conclusions about the taxonomy of the genus before the phylogeny of the whole genus is fully resolved. The recent sequencing of E. multilocularis and E. granulosus genomes opens new possibilities for performing in-depth phylogenetic analyses. In addition, whole genome data provide the possibility of inferring phylogenies based on a large number of functional genes, i.e. genes that trace the evolutionary history of adaptation in E. multilocularis and other members of the genus. Moreover, genomic data open new avenues for studying the molecular epidemiology of E. multilocularis: genotyping studies with larger panels of genetic markers allow the genetic diversity and spatial dynamics of parasites to be evaluated with greater precision. There is an urgent need for international coordination of genotyping of E. multilocularis isolates from animals and human patients. This could be fundamental for a better understanding of the transmission of alveolar echinococcosis and for designing efficient healthcare strategies.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Parasitology
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP)

UniBE Contributor:

Gottstein, Bruno

Subjects:

600 Technology > 630 Agriculture

ISSN:

0304-4017

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Bruno Gottstein

Date Deposited:

25 May 2016 11:23

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:56

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.07.030

PubMed ID:

26260408

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Echinococcus multilocularis, Molecular phylogeny, Parasite adaptation strategies, Taxonomy

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.82009

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/82009

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