Abstract
Evolution and dispersion history on Earth of organisms can best be studied through biological markers in molecular epidemiological studies. The biological diversity of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis was investigated in different cladistic approaches. First the morphological aspects were explored in connection with its ecology. More recently, molecular aspects were investigated to better understand the nature of the variations observed among isolates. The study of the tandemly repeated multilocus microsatellite EmsB allowed us to attain a high genetic diversity level where other classic markers have failed. Since 2006, EmsB data have been collected on specimens from various endemic foci of the parasite in Europe (in historic and newly endemic areas), Asia (China, Japan and Kyrgyzstan), and North America (Canada and Alaska). Biological data on the isolates and metadata were also recorded (e.g. host, geographical location, EmsB analysis, citation in the literature). In order to make available the data set of 1,166 isolates from classic and aberrant domestic and wild animal hosts (larval lesions and adult worms) and from human origin, an open web access interface, developed in PHP, and connected to a PostgreSQL database, was developed in the EmsB Website for the Echinococcus Typing (EWET) project. It allows researchers to access data collection, perform genetic analyses online (e.g. defining the genetic distance between their own samples and the samples in the database), consult distribution maps of EmsB profiles, and record and share their new EmsB genotyping data. In order to standardize the EmsB analyses performed in the different laboratories throughout the world, a calibrator was developed. The final aim of this project was to gather and arrange available data to permit to better understand the dispersion and transmission patterns of the parasite among definitive and intermediate hosts, in order to organize control strategies on the ground.
Highlights
The description of diversity among isolates for a given species is a major field of investigation for the understanding of its past and present history on Earth
In the field of host-parasite relationships, the data about the genetic diversity of a parasite associated with host data such as species identity, geographical location, or the level of severity of the disease induced are more powerful when they are gathered in scalable databases
The aim of the present paper is to introduce the EmsB database (DB) application, named EmsB Website for the Echinococcus Typing (EWET)-DB, as well as the EmsB Website for Echinococcus Typing database, that allows us to build a reference collection dedicated to Echinococcus genetic data by recording, sharing and providing access to the EmsB data
Summary
In the field of host-parasite relationships, the data about the genetic diversity of a parasite associated with host data such as species identity, geographical location, or the level of severity of the disease induced are more powerful when they are gathered in scalable databases. These data, put together in a common database, are more useful because they provide information about the genetic variations between parasite specimens, the pathogenicity of parasite strains circulating in the environment and, when coupled with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can depict the spread and emergence of host and parasite strains or genotypes over space and time
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