Wang C L, Thomas F
Centre d'Etude sur le Polymorphisme des Micro-Organismes CEPM/UMR CNRS-IRD 9926 Equipe: "Evolution des Systèmes Symbiotiques'" IRD, 911 Avenue Agropolis, B.P. 5045 34032 Montpellier Cedex 1, France.
J Helminthol. 2002 Sep;76(3):279-81. doi: 10.1079/JOH2002115.
This study aimed to determine whether metacercariae of Microphallus papillorobustus (Trematoda: Microphallidae) produce eggs by self-fertilization when their intermediate host, the gammarid Gammarus insensibilis, dies before being eaten by predatory definitive hosts. Such a mechanism would allow the parasite to reproduce even if transmission fails. The percentage of metacercariae that produced eggs and the mean number of eggs were significantly higher in metacercariae placed in a Ringer's solution compared with those in salt water or metacercariae remaining inside the dead gammarid. The lack of egg production in metacercariae removed from dead gammarids in the field supported the idea that self-fertilization is not, for this parasite, a mechanism of reproductive insurance when establishment in the definitive hosts fails.
本研究旨在确定，当微小阴茎微睾吸虫（吸虫纲：微睾科）的中间宿主——迟钝钩虾在被掠食性终末宿主吞食之前死亡时，其尾蚴是否会通过自体受精产生虫卵。即便传播失败，这样一种机制也会使寄生虫得以繁殖。与置于盐水中的尾蚴或仍留在死亡钩虾体内的尾蚴相比，置于任氏液中的尾蚴产生虫卵的百分比和平均虫卵数显著更高。从野外死亡钩虾中取出的尾蚴未产生虫卵，这支持了这样一种观点，即对于这种寄生虫而言，当在终末宿主中定殖失败时，自体受精并非一种生殖保障机制。
