Temperature-dependent development and freezing survival of protostrongylid nematodes of Arctic ungulates: implications for transmission ...

• Main Authors: Kafle, Pratap, Peacock, Stephanie J, Grond, Sarah, Orsel, Karin, Kutz, Susan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Calgary 2018
• Subjects: Arctic Archipelago; Canadian Arctic Archipelago
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/prism/44770; https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/109021

Abstract Background Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis and Varestrongylus eleguneniensis are two potentially pathogenic lungworms of caribou and muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic. These parasites are currently undergoing northward range expansion at differential rates. It is hypothesized that their invasion and spread to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago are in part driven by climate warming. However, very little is known regarding their physiological ecology, limiting our ability to parameterize ecological models to test these hypotheses and make meaningful predictions. In this study, the developmental parameters of V. eleguneniensis inside a gastropod intermediate host were determined and freezing survival of U. pallikuukensis and V. eleguneniensis were compared. Methods Slug intermediate hosts, Deroceras laeve, were collected from their natural habitat and experimentally infected with first-stage larvae (L1) of V. eleguneniensis. Development of L1 to third-stage larvae (L3) in D. laeve was studied at constant ...