Experimental hybridization between Oesophagostomum dentatum and O. quadrispinulatum in pigs

Abstract

To investigate eventual hybridization between two nodular worm species of pigs, Oesophagostomum dentatum and O. quadrispinulatum, we used either mature, adult worms or 10-day-old fourth-stage larvae (L₄) as starting material, employing a nonsurgical transplantation technique. Following the transfer of adult worms the ensuing first generation of larvae gave rise to adult worms that were found by morphological examination to be purely O. dentatum. Therefore, we decided to use the immature L₄ as starting material. After the transfer of L₄ to recipient pigs, fecal cultures were established and the L₃ derived from the O. dentatum male/O. quadrispinulatum female cross gave rise to adult but infertile worms, which morphologically had the sexual characters of their parent generation, whereas other characteristics were intermediate between the two species. Attempts to reproduce the hybrid worms or the reciprocal cross were unsuccessful, indicating that hybridization between the two species is a rarely occurring phenomenon.