Molluscan Research 30(2): 102-108, Effects of low temperature on the schistosome-transmitting snail Oncomelania hupensis and the implications of global climate change

	Molluscan ResearchISSN 1323-5818
	An international journal of the Malacological Society of Australasia and the Society for the Study of Molluscan Diversity published by Magnolia Press

Molluscan Research 30(2): 102-108; published 30 Jul. 2010
Copyright © The Malacological Society of Australasia & the Society for the Study of Molluscan Diversity
Effects of low temperature on the schistosome-transmitting snail Oncomelania hupensis and the implications of global climate change

YI-BIAO ZHOU^1,2, JIAN-LIN ZHUANG², MEI-XIA YANG³, ZHI-JIE ZHANG¹,JIAN-GUO WEI¹, WEN-XIANG PENG¹, GEN-MING ZHAO¹, SI-MING ZHANG⁴ & QING-WU JIANG^1,2*

^{1Department
of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Yixueyuan
Road 138, 200032, Shanghai, China
^{2Key
Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education (Fudan
University), Yixueyuan Road 138, 200032, Shanghai, China
^{3Xuhui
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jianguoxi Road 357, 200003,
Shanghai, China
^{4 Center
for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
*Corresponding
author: Email: jiangqw@fudan.edu.cn
Abstract

The impact of
climate change on schistosomiasis transmission has attracted
considerable attention in recent years. As the intermediate hosts for
schistosomes, snails play an obligatory role in schistosomiasis
transmission. In order to determine the impact of low temperature on
snail survival, we studied crystallization temperature (Tc) and lower
lethal temperature (LLT) of the snail Oncomelania hupensis, the
intermediate host of human blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum,
under different physiological conditions. The mean T_c
of ‘dry’ snails was -12.79 ± 1.17°C, which is significantly
lower than that of ‘wet’ snails (-5.36 ± 2.11°C). Survival of
‘dry’ snails was high (92% after 24 h) when the temperature was
higher than -7°C, then decreased rapidly between -7°C and -12°C
(92% to 0 % after 24h). LT₅₀
between 0.25 h and 24 h
exposure was between -10.8 °C and -9.4°C. Our data suggest that O.
hupensis out of water could be avoiding freezing. As winter
temperatures continue to rise due to global warming, O. hupensis may
increase its range, thereby spreading schistosomiasis to the northern
part of China.

Key
words:
Schistosoma
japonicum,
Schistosomiasis, Low thermal tolerance, Cold hardiness, Supercooling,
Crystallization

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Published : 30 Jul. 2010