School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom St, Liverpool, L33AF, UK.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 28;11(1):2523. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-82106-6.
Many parasites and hosts are embroiled in an on-going arms race that affects the evolution of each participant. One such battle is between parasitic nematodes and terrestrial gastropods which have co-evolved for 90-130 MY. Recently, snails have been shown to encase and kill invading nematodes using their shell as a defence mechanism. However, there is remarkably little known about this process in terms of understanding where, when and how nematodes are fixed within the shell. Also there has never been any attempt to observe this process using methods other than light microscopy. Therefore, we used micro CT scanning of a Cepaea nemoralis shell (a common host for nematodes) to 3D visualise encased nematode parasites and quantify morphological parameters. By taking this approach future studies could use micro CT scanning of fossil shells in conchology collections to understand nematode/snail co-evolution.
许多寄生虫和宿主都卷入了一场影响每个参与者进化的持续军备竞赛。其中一场战斗是寄生线虫和陆生腹足类动物之间的战斗，它们已经共同进化了 90-130 万年。最近，人们发现蜗牛会用外壳作为防御机制，将入侵的线虫包裹并杀死。然而，人们对于线虫在壳内的固定位置、时间和方式知之甚少。此外，除了使用光学显微镜之外，从来没有人试图用其他方法观察这个过程。因此，我们使用 Cepaea nemoralis 壳（线虫的常见宿主）的微 CT 扫描来 3D 可视化包裹的线虫寄生虫，并量化形态参数。通过这种方法，未来的研究可以使用贝类学收藏中的化石壳的微 CT 扫描来了解线虫/蜗牛的共同进化。
