Understanding the Phylogenetics and Evolution of Genus Schistosoma- Africa and Asia Stand Point.

Abstract

The evolutionary spread of schistosomes infection was reportedly prominent more in Africa and Asia continents. This study therefore examined the evolutionary trend of this parasite while limiting the investigation to Schistosoma species peculiar to this region of the world. The evolutionary history of this species group was inferred using DNA sequences from NCBI Genbank database and Maximum likelihood, Ancestral inference; Neighbor-Joining method analysis was employed in this study. All members of this species complex were AT rich, with S. mekongi and S. malayensis having the highest AT nucleotide composition. The smallest evolutionary divergence was also observed in S. curassoni and S. bovis. The finding of this study slightly contradict previous report on ancestral prediction of Schistosomes.