Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
Parasitology. 2023 Sep;150(11):967-978. doi: 10.1017/S0031182023000963. Epub 2023 Oct 19.
Model parasite species, whose entire life cycle can be completed in the laboratory and maintained for multiple generations, have played a fundamental role in our understanding of host–parasite interactions. Yet, keeping parasites in laboratory conditions may expose them to unnatural evolutionary pressures, and using laboratory cultures for research is therefore not without limitations. Using 2 widely-used model helminth species, the cestode and the nematode , I illustrate the caution needed when interpreting experimental results on model species. I first review more than 1200 experimental studies published on these species in the past 4 decades, to determine which research areas they have contributed to. This is followed by an examination of the institutional laboratory cultures that have provided the parasites used in these studies. Some of these have persisted for decades and accounted for a substantial proportion of published studies, whereas others have been short-lived. Using information provided by the curators of active cultures, I summarize data on their origins and maintenance conditions. Finally, I discuss how laboratory cultures may have been subject to the influence of evolutionary genetic processes, such as founder effects, genetic drift and inbreeding. I also address the possibility that serial passage through laboratory hosts across multiple generations has exerted artificial selection on several parasite traits, resulting in genetic and phenotypic divergence among laboratory cultures, and between these cultures and natural parasite populations. I conclude with recommendations for the continued usage of laboratory helminth cultures aimed at maximizing their important contribution to parasitological research.
模式寄生虫物种的整个生命周期都可以在实验室中完成，并可以维持多代，它们在我们对宿主-寄生虫相互作用的理解中发挥了基础性作用。然而，将寄生虫保存在实验室条件下可能会使它们面临不自然的进化压力，因此，使用实验室培养物进行研究并非没有局限性。我使用两种广泛使用的模式蠕虫物种，即绦虫和线虫，来说明在解释模型物种的实验结果时需要谨慎。我首先回顾了过去 40 年中在这些物种上发表的 1200 多项实验研究，以确定它们对哪些研究领域做出了贡献。接着，我检查了为这些研究提供寄生虫的机构实验室培养物。其中一些已经存在了几十年，占已发表研究的很大一部分，而另一些则是短暂存在的。利用活跃培养物管理者提供的信息，我总结了它们的起源和维持条件的数据。最后，我讨论了实验室培养物可能受到进化遗传过程的影响，例如奠基者效应、遗传漂变和近亲繁殖。我还探讨了寄生虫在实验室宿主中经过多代连续传代是否对几个寄生虫特征施加了人工选择，从而导致实验室培养物之间以及这些培养物与自然寄生虫群体之间出现遗传和表型分化的可能性。最后，我提出了继续使用实验室蠕虫培养物的建议，旨在最大限度地发挥它们对寄生虫学研究的重要贡献。
