Résumé
Schistosomes are gonochoric blood parasites with a complex life cycle
responsible for a disease of considerable medical and veterinary
importance in tropical and subtropical regions. Understanding the
evolution of schistosome genetic diversity is clearly of fundamental
importance to interpreting schistosomiasis epidemiology and disease
transmission patterns of this parasite. In this paper we have the putative
role of the host immune system in the selection of male genetic diversity.
We demonstrated the link between genetic dissimilarity and the protective
effect among male worms. We then compared the proteomes of three male
clones with different genotypes and differing by their capacity to protect
against reinfection. The identified differences correspond mainly to
antigens known or supposed to be involved in the induction of protective
immunity. These results underline the role played by host immune system in
the selection of schistosome genetic diversity that is linked to antigenic
diversity. We discuss the evolutionary consequences in the context of
schistosome infection.