Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK.
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.
Parasitology. 2011 Jun;138(7):858-65. doi: 10.1017/S0031182011000485. Epub 2011 Apr 18.
Drosophila melanogaster is an important model system of immunity and parasite resistance, yet most studies use parasites that do not naturally infect this organism. We have studied trypanosomatids in natural populations to assess the prevalence and diversity of these gut parasites. We collected several species of Drosophila from Europe and surveyed them for trypanosomatids using conserved primers for two genes. We have used the conserved GAPDH sequence to construct a phylogenetic tree and the highly variable spliced leader RNA to assay genetic diversity. All 5 of the species that we examined were infected, and the average prevalence ranged from 1 to 6%. There are several different groups of trypanosomatids, related to other monoxenous Trypanosomatidae. These may represent new trypanosomatid species and were found in different species of European Drosophila from different geographical locations. The detection of a little studied natural pathogen in D. melanogaster and related species provides new opportunities for research into both the Drosophila immune response and the evolution of hosts and parasites.
黑腹果蝇是免疫和寄生虫抗性的重要模式生物系统，但大多数研究使用的寄生虫并非天然感染该生物。我们已经在自然种群中研究了原生动物，以评估这些肠道寄生虫的流行程度和多样性。我们从欧洲收集了几种果蝇，并使用两种基因的保守引物对它们进行了原生动物检测。我们使用保守的 GAPDH 序列构建了一个系统发育树，并使用高度可变的拼接领导者 RNA 来检测遗传多样性。我们检查的所有 5 个物种都被感染了，平均患病率从 1%到 6%不等。有几个不同的原生动物群，与其他单宿主原生动物科有关。这些可能代表新的原生动物物种，在来自不同地理位置的不同欧洲果蝇物种中被发现。在黑腹果蝇和相关物种中发现了一种研究较少的天然病原体，为研究果蝇免疫反应以及宿主和寄生虫的进化提供了新的机会。
