Platt Ii Roy N, Enabulele Egie E, Adeyemi Ehizogie, Agbugui Marian O, Ajakaye Oluwaremilekun G, Amaechi Ebube C, Ejikeugwu Chika P, Igbeneghu Christopher, Njom Victor S, Dlamini Precious, Arya Grace A, Diaz Robbie, Rabone Muriel, Allan Fiona, Webster Bonnie, Emery Aidan, Rollinson David, Anderson Timothy J C
Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Department of Pathology, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Benin City, Nigeria.
Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 13;16(1):3508. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58543-6.
The human parasitic fluke, Schistosoma haematobium hybridizes with the livestock parasite S. bovis in the laboratory, but the frequency of hybridization in nature is unclear. Here, we analyze 34.6 million single nucleotide variants in 162 samples from 18 African countries, revealing a sharp genetic discontinuity between northern and southern S. haematobium. We find no evidence for recent hybridization. Instead the data reveal admixture events that occurred 257-879 generations ago in northern S. haematobium populations. Fifteen introgressed S. bovis genes are approaching fixation in northern S. haematobium with four genes potentially driving adaptation. Further, we identify 19 regions that are resistant to introgression; these are enriched on the sex chromosomes. These results (i) suggest strong barriers to gene flow between these species, (ii) indicate that hybridization may be less common than currently envisaged, but (iii) reveal profound genomic consequences of rare interspecific hybridization between schistosomes of medical and veterinary importance.
人类寄生吸虫埃及血吸虫在实验室中与家畜寄生虫牛血吸虫杂交，但在自然环境中的杂交频率尚不清楚。在此，我们分析了来自18个非洲国家的162个样本中的3460万个单核苷酸变异，揭示了埃及血吸虫南北种群之间明显的遗传间断。我们没有发现近期杂交的证据。相反，数据揭示了在257 - 879代之前埃及血吸虫北方种群中发生的混合事件。15个渗入的牛血吸虫基因在北方埃及血吸虫种群中接近固定，其中4个基因可能推动适应性进化。此外，我们确定了19个对基因渗入具有抗性的区域；这些区域在性染色体上富集。这些结果（i）表明这些物种之间存在强大的基因流动障碍，（ii）表明杂交可能比目前设想的更为罕见，但（iii）揭示了具有医学和兽医重要性的血吸虫之间罕见种间杂交的深远基因组后果。
