Konecny, Lukas; (2022) Snails as intermediate hosts for parasitic infections: host-parasite relationships and intervention strategies. Masters thesis (M.Phil), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

A fundamental prerequisite in the fight against medically and veterinary important parasites transmitted by intermediate host snails is a good knowledge of their life cycles, host specificity and geographical distribution. With scientists around the world collecting material from the wild and generating vast amounts of sequencing data, there is a huge opportunity to expand our knowledge of host-parasite relationships from the comfort of an office chair. With these motivations in mind, a bioinformatics tool was developed that has proven to be time efficient and accurate for the rapid identification of hidden parasites in publicly available datasets. Several dozen hidden parasite infections were discovered from the 2150 gastropod datasets tested, and some of these relationships have not yet been described. With our better understanding and the rapid progress in development of molecular and genetic methods, new avenues are opening for the control and eradication of diseases caused by vector-borne parasites. To study crucial parasite-snail interactions and eventually try to interfere with the infection, it is desirable to edit the host genome. Thus, in the framework of this work, preliminary experiments for the development of the CRISPR/Cas9 protocol in Biomphalaria glabrata, the intermediate host of the dangerous blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni, were also performed. The most significant findings in this case are the proof-of-concept of cultivation of B. glabrata embryos in glass capillaries using natural egg fluid and the demonstration that dilution of this fluid or complete replacement by other culture media are not suitable for successful cultivation. I also show that the Diaphanous gene, which has been used in the past to optimize CRISPR/Cas9 in another snail model, is not suitable for our model. The ultimate goal of the development of this molecular-genetic toolbox is the eradication of schistosomiasis by replacing susceptible populations in nature with resistant populations using gene drive technology. Although disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic, this work’s contribution to progress in the fight against helminthic parasitic infections is considerable.

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