The wide geographic distribution of Schistosoma mansoni, a digenetic trematode and parasite of humans, is determined by the occurrence of its intermediate hosts, freshwater snails of the genus Biomphalaria (Preston 1910). We present phylogenetic analyses of 23 species of Biomphalaria, 16 Neotropical and seven African, including the most important schistosome hosts, using partial mitochondrial ribosomal 16S and complete nuclear ribosomal ITS1 and ITS2 nucleotide sequences. A dramatically better resolution was obtained by combining the data sets as opposed to analyzing each separately, indicating that there is additive congruent signal in each data set. Neotropical species are basal, and all African species are derived, suggesting an American origin for the genus. We confirm that a proto-Biomphalaria glabrata gave rise to all African species through a trans-Atlantic colonization of Africa. In addition, genetic distances among African species are smaller compared with those among Neotropical species, indicating a more recent origin. There are two species-rich clades, one African with B. glabrata as its base, and the other Neotropical. Within the African clade, a wide-ranging tropical savannah species, B. pfeifferi, and a Nilotic species complex, have both colonized Rift Valley lakes and produced endemic lacustrine forms. Within the Neotropical clade, two newly acquired natural hosts for S. mansoni (B. straminea and B. tenagophila) are not the closest relatives of each other, suggesting two separate acquisition events. Basal to these two species-rich clades are several Neotropical lineages with large genetic distances between them, indicating multiple lineages within the genus. Interesting patterns occur regarding schistosome susceptibility: (1) the most susceptible hosts belong to a single clade, comprising B. glabrata and the African species, (2) several susceptible Neotropical species are sister groups to apparently refractory species, and (3) some basal lineages are susceptible. These patterns suggest the existence of both inherent susceptibility and resistance, but also underscore the ability of S. mansoni to adapt to and acquire previously unsusceptible species as hosts. Biomphalaria schrammi appears to be distantly related to other Biomphalaria as well as to Helisoma, and may represent a separate or intermediate lineage.

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Background: Malaria has recently re-emerged as a public health burden in Colombia. Although the problem seems to be climate-driven, there remain significant gaps of knowledge in the understanding of the complexity of malaria transmission, which have motivated attempts to develop a comprehensive model.

A predictive Fasciola hepatica model, based on the growing degree day-water budget (GDD-WB) concept and the known biological requirements of the parasite, was developed within a geographical information system (GIS) in Colombia. Climate-based forecast index (CFI) values were calculated and represented in a national-scale, climate grid (18 x 18 km) using ArcGIS 9.3. A mask overlay was used to exclude unsuitable areas where mean annual temperature exceeded 25 °C, the upper threshold for development and propagation of the F. hepatica life cycle. The model was then validated and further developed by studies limited to one department in northwest Colombia. F. hepatica prevalence data was obtained from a 2008-2010 survey in 10 municipalities of 6,016 dairy cattle at 673 herd study sites, for which global positioning system coordinates were recorded. The CFI map results were compared to F. hepatica environmental risk models for the survey data points that had over 5% prevalence (231 of the 673 sites) at the 1 km2 scale using two independent approaches: (i) a GIS map query based on satellite data parameters including elevation, enhanced vegetation index and land surface temperature day-night difference; and (ii) an ecological niche model (MaxEnt), for which geographic point coordinates of F. hepatica survey farms were used with BioClim data as environmental variables to develop a probability map. The predicted risk pattern of both approaches was similar to that seen in the forecast index grid. The temporal risk, evaluated by the monthly CFIs and a daily GDD-WB forecast software for 2007 and 2008, revealed a major July-August to January transmission period with considerable inter-annual differences.

En este trabajo realizamos un estudio biogeográfico de dos géneros de caracoles terrestres amazónicos, Megalobulimus (Strophocheilidae) y Systrophia (Scolodontidae). Se utilizaron individuos colectados en diversas localidades de la Amazonia peruana así como información bibliográfica. Se utilizaron los marcadores moleculares 5.8S-ITS2-28S rRNA y 16S rRNA para reconstruir filogenias y obtener hipótesis sobre las relaciones evolutivas entre los géneros amazónicos y otras especies de distribución global. La filogenia nuclear permitió determinar la posición evolutiva de ambos géneros y la filogenia mitocondrial permitió la diferenciación de las especies a nivel intragenérico. Megalobulimus formó parte del clado no-achatinoideo en la filogenia de los gastrópodos Stylommatophora, como lo esperado, pero no pudo ser demostrada su cercanía a la familia Acavidae, mientras que Systrophia quedó fuera de los dos clados establecidos, formando uno basal dentro de los Stylommatophora. El gen mitocondrial 16S rRNA permitió diferenciar a las especies de Megalobulimus, actuando como código de barras de ADN de estos caracoles comestibles. El análisis de distribución geográfica reveló varios endemismos para la Amazonia peruana para especies de ambos géneros, resaltando las unidades biogeográficas de Chanchamayo e Inambari.