The intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica is Lymnaea truncatula in Switzerland. The snail and the free-living stages of the parasite require a moderate climate and moisture for survival, reproduction, and transmission. In Switzerland, these conditions are present in many regions, resulting in a mean prevalence of bovine fasciolosis from 8.4 to 21.4%. An interactive map was created in order to ...

This chapter synthesizes our current knowledge on the ecological genetics of the model legume Medicago truncatula. After a short introduction to the life cycle of the species, we describe the mating system of M truncatula and how selfing rates in nature can be inferred both by progeny testing and population surveys. We then review what is currently known on the distribution of genetic diversity...

Cryptic species can present a significant challenge to the application of systematic and biogeographic principles, especially if they are invasive or transmit parasites pathogens. Detecting cryptic requires pluralistic approach in which molecular markers facilitate detection coherent taxonomic units that then be analyzed using various traits (e.g., internal morphology) crosses. In asexual self-...

The package Hierfstat for the statistical software R (R Development Core Team [2003]) allows to estimate hierarchical F-statistics from a hierarchy with any numbers of levels. In addition, it allows testing the statistical significance of population differentiation for these different levels, using a generalized likelihood-ratio test. The package Hierfstat is available from http://www.unil.ch/p...

In order to improve the spatial resolution of current risk maps for fasciolosis in cattle, more knowledge is needed with respect to farm-level factors that determine infection risk. In this study, we visited 39 dairy farms within a predefined low- and high-risk area for fasciolosis in Belgium and assessed their infection status by an indirect bulk tank milk enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EL...