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The distribution of genotypes of the trypanosome parasite, Crithidia bombi, in populations of its host, Bombus terrestris

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2004

P. SCHMID-HEMPEL  and
C. REBER FUNK
P. SCHMID-HEMPEL
Affiliation:
ETH Zurich, Ecology and Evolution, ETH-Zentrum NW, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
C. REBER FUNK
Affiliation:
ETH Zurich, Ecology and Evolution, ETH-Zentrum NW, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Abstract

This study reports the distribution of parasite genotypes for the trypanosome Crithidia bombi across individual units (the colonies) in host populations of a social insect, the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. A number of microsatellite primers were developed and several of them were found to be polymorphic in our samples. Furthermore, a simple algorithm was used to identify the likely multi-locus genotypes present in multiply infected host individuals. The results demonstrated a remarkably high degree of genetic diversity among infections. A first sample from 1997 could only use a low resolution with 2 loci and showed a total of 11 different genotypes of C. bombi from 12 colonies. The sample from 2000 was analysed at 6 polymorphic loci and contained data from 8 colonies that were infected by 27 different C. bombi genotypes. Roughly 16% of all individual bees but half of all colonies (2000 sample) were infected with more than 1 genotype. The infections in the different colonies were also genetically distinct from each other, and the parasite population as a whole was in linkage disequilibrium and deviated from Hardy–Weinberg expectations. The highly structured and genetically diversified population of C. bombi is likely to result from strong genotypic host–parasite interactions.

Keywords

population structureparasitemicrosatelliteTrypanosomatidaeBombus terrestrisCrithidia bombi
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 129 , Issue 2 , August 2004 , pp. 147 - 158
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press

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