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Genetic processes within an epidemic of sleeping sickness in Uganda

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Abstract

Reproductive processes within the current Ugandan epidemic of sleeping sickness are investigated. Genotype frequencies derived from isoenzyme patterns in 44 stocks ofTrypanosoma brucei s.l. collected in 1988 from Tororo, south-east Uganda are analysed by single and multiple loci methods. In the single locus method, the hypothesis of random mating is tested by agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The multiple loci method uses a contingency table approach to detect nonrandom associations between pairs of loci; this equates to the detection of disequilibrium. The results do not support the concept of a randomly mating population ofT. brucei within the current epidemic. Results from the epidemic data set are discussed in relation to the broader problem of genetic exchange inTrypanozoon.

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Author notes

  1. J. R. Stevens

    Present address: Laboratoire Génétique Moléculaire des Parasites et des Vecteurs, ORSTOM, 911 Avenue Agropolis, BP 5045, F-34032, Montpellier, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The T setse Research Laboratory, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, BS18 7DU, Bristol, UK

    J. R. Stevens & S. C. Welburn

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  1. J. R. Stevens
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  2. S. C. Welburn
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Stevens, J.R., Welburn, S.C. Genetic processes within an epidemic of sleeping sickness in Uganda. Parasitol Res 79, 421–427 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00931833

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