title: Specific identification of Egyptian Biomphalaria species and possible hybrids using the polymerase chain reaction based on nuclear and mitochondrial loci.
abstract: The snail historically implicated in the transmission of Schistosoma mansoni in Egypt is Biomphalaria alexandrina. The problem of schistosomiasis in Egypt has been complicated in recent years by the introduction of Biomphalaria glabrata, which has been reported to hybridize with B. alexandrina. Both introduced and hybrid snails also pose a threat with respect to S. mansoni transmission. As morphological differentiation of these snails is difficult, using three DNA loci, nuclear ITS1 and ITS2, and mitochondrial ND1, PCR-based assays were developed to identify these species and possible hybrids. The assays are rapid, reproducible, sensitive and specific. This technique may be used in field surveys to study the distribution of the two species of intermediate host and their putative hybrids in Egypt.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. waelotfy@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Wael M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Lotfy
authors.forename: Randall J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: DeJong
authors.forename: Brandee S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Loker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001700:Biomphalaria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics*; D002678:Chimera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity