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Hugo D. Luján • Staffan Svärd Editors

Giardia A Model Organism

SpringerWienNewYork

Hugo D. Luján, PhD Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina Staffan Svärd, PhD Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically those of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, broadcasting, reproduction by photocopying machines or similar means, and storage in data banks. Product Liability: The publisher can give no guarantee for all the information contained in this book. This does also refer to information about drug dosage and application thereof. In every individual case the respective user must check its accuracy by consulting other pharmaceutical literature. The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. © 2011 Springer-Verlag/Wien Printed in Austria SpringerWienNewYork is part of Springer Science + Business Media springer.at

Typesetting: Thomson Digital, Chennai-600 004, India Printing: Holzhausen Druck GmbH, 1140 Wien, Austria

Printed on acid-free and chlorine-free bleached paper SPIN: 12759811 With 97 (partly coloured) Figures

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011923664

ISBN 978-3-7091-0197-1 SpringerWienNewYork

This book is dedicated to Huw Smith Hugo D. Luján and Staffan Svärd

Preface/Introduction

Giardia as a parasite has fascinated scientists for more than 300 years. This flagellated protozoan parasite of the order Diplomonadida was observed already in 1681 by Antony van Leeuwenhoek, using a homemade microscope. Research on Giardia and giardiasis, the disease caused by the parasite, has advanced considerably since the first observation. More than half of the 5500 Giardia publications in PubMed (August, 2010) have been published since 1998 and the last 5 years have been very productive. Giardia intestinalis (syn. G. duodenalis and G. lamblia) is important since it causes diarrheal disease in humans and young animals. Transmission occurs by cysts discharged in the feces of infected hosts. The parasite is distributed worldwide and symptomatic infections occur in developing and developed countries. Infections by water or food are the main modes of transmission. The parasite is found in most mammals and it is a potential zoonosis. Molecular analyses have identified seven distinct G. intestinalis genotypes or assemblages and two, A and B, are found in humans. The epidemiology and taxonomy of G. intestinalis are discussed further in Section I. The progress in Giardia research has been slowed down due to the lack of genetic systems. However, the “omics” age has contributed enormously to the research field and the publication of the first Giardia genome has been followed by several gen