Evolutionary aspects of the metapopulation dynamics of Biomphalaria pfeifferi, the intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni

Abstract

Abstract Combining genetic and demographic data is a powerful approach to study adaptation process and evolutionary forces acting in natural populations. We focus on the freshwater snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi, the intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni. Twenty-one populations sampled in the south of Madagascar were genotyped at six microsatellite loci. Demographic parameters and parasitic prevalence were estimated monthly over the year preceding the genetic sampling. Our results indicate that populations experience recurrent bottlenecks and size fluctuations, which strongly depresses the genetic diversity within population. The recolonization of depleted sites involves genetically differentiated immigrants. We detected frequent migration events along rivers and rare migration events between watersheds. This explains the high level of differentiation observed among populations. The negative regression observed between the prevalence of S. mansoni and the genetic diversity of B. pfeifferi populations indicates that host consanguinity may affect prevalence through the genetic mechanisms involved in resistance. Coevolutionary outcomes are also influenced by the relative migration rates of snails and flukes, but the parasite local adaptation may be prevented by rare long distance dispersal in snails and the phylogeographical patterns of colonization of both hosts and snails.