Author
Listed:
- Roy N. Platt II
(Texas Biomedical Research Institute)
- Egie E. Enabulele
(Texas Biomedical Research Institute)
- Ehizogie Adeyemi
(University of Benin Teaching Hospital)
- Marian O. Agbugui
(Edo State University)
- Oluwaremilekun G. Ajakaye
(Adekunle Ajasin University)
- Ebube C. Amaechi
(University of Ilorin)
- Chika P. Ejikeugwu
(Enugu State University of Science and Technology)
- Christopher Igbeneghu
(Ladoke Akintola University of Technology)
- Victor S. Njom
(Enugu State University of Science and Technology)
- Precious Dlamini
(Central Public Health Offices)
- Grace A. Arya
(Texas Biomedical Research Institute)
- Robbie Diaz
(Texas Biomedical Research Institute)
- Muriel Rabone
(Natural History Museum)
- Fiona Allan
(Natural History Museum)
- Bonnie Webster
(Natural History Museum)
- Aidan Emery
(Natural History Museum)
- David Rollinson
(Natural History Museum
Global Schistosomiasis Alliance)
- Timothy J. C. Anderson
(Texas Biomedical Research Institute)
Abstract
The human parasitic fluke, Schistosoma haematobium hybridizes with the livestock parasite S. bovis in the laboratory, but the frequency of hybridization in nature is unclear. Here, we analyze 34.6 million single nucleotide variants in 162 samples from 18 African countries, revealing a sharp genetic discontinuity between northern and southern S. haematobium. We find no evidence for recent hybridization. Instead the data reveal admixture events that occurred 257–879 generations ago in northern S. haematobium populations. Fifteen introgressed S. bovis genes are approaching fixation in northern S. haematobium with four genes potentially driving adaptation. Further, we identify 19 regions that are resistant to introgression; these are enriched on the sex chromosomes. These results (i) suggest strong barriers to gene flow between these species, (ii) indicate that hybridization may be less common than currently envisaged, but (iii) reveal profound genomic consequences of rare interspecific hybridization between schistosomes of medical and veterinary importance.
Suggested Citation
Roy N. Platt II & Egie E. Enabulele & Ehizogie Adeyemi & Marian O. Agbugui & Oluwaremilekun G. Ajakaye & Ebube C. Amaechi & Chika P. Ejikeugwu & Christopher Igbeneghu & Victor S. Njom & Precious Dlami, 2025.
"Genomic data reveal a north-south split and introgression history of blood fluke populations across Africa,"
Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
Handle:
RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58543-6
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58543-6
Download full text from publisher
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58543-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.