Landscape genetics guide NTD interventions: Chagas disease in Ecuador and Peru

描述(申请人提供)：被忽视的热带疾病影响着全世界约27亿人，分布广泛，特别是在热带地区。引起NTDS的病原体的扩散和分布受到其物理和生物环境的空间复杂性的强烈影响。因此，对非生物和生物变量的空间分析可以准确地预测疾病的出现、发生和传播。此外，对有效的疾病控制至关重要的是了解寄生虫种群及其媒介之间的联系程度。在这个项目中，我们建议重点关注厄瓜多尔南部和秘鲁北部疾病传播区的恰加斯病。恰加斯病是由单细胞动质锥虫克氏锥虫引起的，在我们的研究区域，当地的昆虫媒介物种是执行红假单胞虫。我们的目标是通过高分辨率(基因组规模)基因分型建立整个研究地区媒介和寄生虫的种群遗传/基因组多样性。为了评估不同载体和寄生虫种群的相互连通性，并预测潜在的传播途径或基因流动的障碍，我们建议采用景观遗传学方法。“景观遗传学”包括一套理论和统计工具，以提供对景观特征(例如海拔、土地利用、人口密度)与种群和/或个体内部和之间的空间遗传模式之间的相互作用的更深层次的见解。我们的目标是定义哪些环境因素和哪些空间尺度与定义寄生虫和媒介种群分布有关。这种对多样性的描述是衡量和预测扩散的关键。我们对基因流动障碍的评估将直接为有效的局部疾病控制提供理论基础。此外，我们的项目将提供一个模型，用于研究其他NTD制剂的扩散和分布。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neglected Tropical Diseases affect approximately 2.7 billion people worldwide and are widely distributed, especially among the tropics. The dispersal and distribution of the pathogens that cause NTDs are strongly influenced by the spatial complexity of their physical and biotic environment. Thus, spatial analyses of abiotic and biotic variables can serve to accurately predict the emergence, occurrence, and spread of disease. Furthermore, vital to effective disease control is an understanding of the extent to which populations of parasites and their vectors are connected. In this project we propose to focus on Chagas disease in an area of disease transmission in Southern Ecuador and Northern Peru. Chagas disease is caused by the single-celled kinetoplastid Trypanosoma cruzi, and in our study region the local insect vector species is Rhodnius ecuadoriensis. Our aim is to establish the population genetic/genomic diversity of both vector and parasite across the study region by high resolution (genome scale) genotyping. To evaluate the interconnectivity of different vector and parasite populations, and to predict potential dispersal routes or barriers to gene-flow, we propose to adopt a landscape genetics approach. 'Landscape genetics' encompasses a body of theory and statistical tools to provide deeper insights into the interactions between landscape features (e.g. elevation, land use, population density) and spatial genetic patterns within and between populations and/or individuals. Our aim is to define what environmental factors and what spatial scales are relevant in defining parasite and vector population distribution. Such descriptions of diversity are key to measuring and predicting dispersal. Our evaluation of barriers to gene flow will feed directly into a rationale for effective local disease control. Furthermore our project will provide a model with which to approach the study of the dispersal and distribution of other NTD agents.