Tracing genetic differentiation of Chinese Mongolian sheep using microsatellites

The genetic consequences of population differentiation and isolation have been the subject of conservation biology. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity and structure of Mongolian sheep in China. These animals belong to a traditional local breed with high production, extensive adaption, early maturity and roughage resistance. For this purpose, 26 microsatellites were genotyped for five Mongolian sheep populations. The Bayesian clustering indicated five clusters as the most probable genetic structure of the populations investigated. In addition, a clear genetic structure was revealed in three populations distributed at large geographical scales, while the other cluster encompassed UQ and HLBR sheep that displayed no clear differentiation, probably due to their close and small geographical distributions. Overall, our results are helpful in understanding the interplay of population dynamics in these close genetic lineages of Mongolian sheep.     

Population structure and genetic diversity of metamorphic and paedomorphic populations of the tiger salamander,Ambystoma tigrinum

Genetic relationships, population subdivision and genetic diversity were estimated from mtDNA and allozyme data for two subspecies of tiger salamander, one of which is obligately metamorphic and the other polymorphic for paedomorphosis (larval reproduction). Far greater genetic differentiation exists between subspecies than within subspecies, suggesting that the subspecies have evolved in allopatry. Values of F_st calculated from both mtDNA and allozymes were greater than 0.400 for each subspecies. Significant population subdivision was detected even on a microgeographic scale. This extensive population subdivision indicates that populations can respond to extremely localized selection pressures. In the case of paedomorphosis, populations in permanent water should evolve paedomorphosis as long as the appropriate genes exist. For both mtDNA and allozymes, comparisons of population structure within the polymorphic subspecies and between polymorphic and metamorphic subspecies reveal no discernible effects of paedomorphosis. However, a comparison of paedomorphic and metamorphic populations of the polymorphic subspecies showed significantly higher mtDNA diversity in paedomorphic populations. The discrepancy between the allozyme and mtDNA results may be due to the lower effective population size of mtDNA compared to autosomal genes.     

Genetic resistance to helminths. The influence of breed and haemoglobin type on the response of sheep to re-infection with Haemonchus contortus.

The influence of genetic factors on acquired resistance to Haemonchus contortus infections in sheep was investigated. Animals whose primary infections were terminated with an anthelmintic failed to develop any immunity against subsequent challenge as judged by worm numbers. Nevertheless, all were better able to retard the development and reduce the fecundity and haematophagic activities of their parasite populations than animals undergoing primary infections. High levels of resistance, as judged by all these parameters, were observed in most animals when the challenge larvae were superimposed on existing worm populations. The patterns of worm establishment and disease indicated that genetic factors operated in determining resistance, since fewer worms became established and less severe clinical and pathophysiological changes were observed in Scottish Blackface than in Finn Dorset sheep with the same haemoglobin type. Similar advantages were displayed by animals with haemoglobin AA and to a lesser extent those with haemoglobin AB over haemoglobin BB types. The importance of breed was further indicated by the occurrence of 'self-cure' in the majority of the Scottish Blackfaces but in only one Finn Dorset. There was no evidence that this reaction was associated with haemoglobin type.     

北方玉米丝轴黑粉菌遗传多样性与遗传分化研究

从80个随机扩增多态性DNA (RAPD)引物中筛选出26个扩增稳定、带纹清晰的引物,对从玉米丝黑穗病发生严重的大部分北方省市收集分离的68个玉米丝轴黑粉菌菌株进行了DNA遗传多 样性分析.结果表明,RAPD谱带多态性为98.33%,北方玉米丝轴黑粉菌具有丰富的遗传多样性,遗传分化明显;种群内遗传变异小于种群间遗传变异.玉米丝轴黑粉菌遗传分化除明显受地理阻隔影响外,也可能与玉米种子调运过程中携带病菌基因的遗传迁移相关.取相似系数为0.76阀值时的系统聚类分析,可将68个菌株划分为13个遗传宗谱.本研究结果完善和丰富了我国玉米丝轴黑粉菌遗传多样性评价研究,对玉米抗病资源筛选和抗病育种具有重要参考价值.     

Genetic diversity and variance of Stentor coeruleus (Ciliophora: Heterotrichea) inferred from inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) fingerprinting

We used inter-simple sequence repeat fingerprinting to analyze the genetic structure of 16 populations of Stentor coeruleus from three lakes and three ponds in China. Using 14 polymorphic primers, a total of 99 discernible DNA fragments were detected, among which 76 (76.77%) were polymorphic, indicating median genetic diversity in these populations. Further, both Nei's gene diversity (h) and Shannon's information index (I) between the different populations revealed a median genetic diversity. At the same time, gene flow was interpreted to be low. The main factors responsible for the median level of diversity and low gene flow within populations are probably due to a low frequency of sexual recombinations. Analysis of molecular variance showed that there was high genetic differentiation among the five water bodies. Both cluster analysis and a nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis suggested that genotypes isolated from the same locations displayed a higher genetic similarity than those from different ones, separating populations into subgroups according to their geographical locations. However, there is a weak positive correlation between the genetic distance and geographical distance.     

Parasitological and immunological responses of genetically resistant Merino sheep on pastures contaminated with parasitic nematodes.

One hundred and twenty lambs were grazed continuously from weaning until 9 months of age on 12 plots contaminated with larvae of three nematode species (Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Ostertagia circumcincta). The lambs were sired by either a genetically resistant ram or susceptible rams (determined by the response of previous progeny to artificial H. contortus infection). Half the resistant and half the susceptible lambs were given strategic anthelmintic treatment and the remainder remained untreated. Faecal egg counts and blood packed cell volume were measured frequently in all animals. One and 5 months after weaning, two lambs from each plot were slaughtered, and worm burdens and larval establishment rates of the three species of nematode were estimated. At the second slaughter, leukotriene levels and larval migration inhibitory (LMI) activity were measured in mucus collected from the small intestine. The dominant species in all faecal samples and the gastrointestinal tract was T. colubriformis. Lambs of the resistant genotype had lower faecal worm egg counts, lower worm burdens and higher levels of resistance to larval establishment. There were no differences in larval migration inhibition (LMI) activity, but resistant lambs had higher levels of the leukotriene LTC4/D4/E4. Further, the resistant genotype, identified on responsiveness to artificial infections with H. contortus, was more resistant to infections of three important species acquired naturally from contaminated pastures. All these genetic differences were maintained while the lambs were subject to strategic anthelmintic treatment.     

Genetic diversity and structure of urban populations of Pieris butterflies assessed using amplified fragment length polymorphism

Conservation programs in urban ecosystems need to determine the genetic background in populations of urban dwellers. We examined the genetic diversity and structure of Pieris rapae and P. melete using AFLP markers, and compared them between species and between urban and rural environments. As a result: (i). in both species, there was no reduction in genetic diversity within urban populations by direct comparison of diversity measurements, although the analysis of molecular variance suggested significant reductions in the variance within seasonal subpopulations in urban populations; (ii). P. rapae retained greater genetic diversity within species and populations; (iii). populations of both species showed significant genetic differentiation, and P. melete was more strongly subdivided; (iv). in both species, geographically close populations did not cluster with one another in the upgma analysis; (v). there was no genetic isolation due to geographical distance in either species; (vi). the genetic composition of seasonal subpopulations differed in urban populations of both species, and the genetic distances among subpopulations were correlated with seasonal differences in P. rapae and with temporal differences in P. melete. These results indicate that the genetic diversity in urban populations of both species was reduced at times, but was maintained by dispersal from genetically differentiated populations. Differences in the ability and mode of dispersal in the two species may be reflected in the degree of population subdivision and patterns of seasonal change in the genetic composition.     

A comparison of the genetic diversity in Dipteronia sinensis Oliv. and Dipteronia dyeriana Henry

Dipteronia is an endemic genus to China and includes only two species, Dipteronia sinensis and D.dyeriana.Based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers,a comparative study of the genetic diversity and genetic structure of Dipteronia was performed.In total,128 and 103 loci were detected in 17 D.sinensis populations and 4 D.dyeriana populations,respectively,using 18 random primers.These results showed that the proportions of polymorphic loci for the two species were 92.97% and 81.55%,respectively,indicating that the genetic diversity of D.sinensis was higher than that of D.dyeriana.Analysis,based on similarity coefficients,Shannon diversity index and Nei gene diversity index,also confirmed this result.AMOVA analysis demonstrated that the genetic variation of D.sinensis within and among populations accounted for 56.89% and 43.11% of the total variation,respectively,and that of D.dyeriana was 57.86% and 42.14%,respectively.The Shannon diversity index and Nei gene diversity index showed similar results.The abovementioned characteristics indicated that the genetic diversity levels of these two species were extremely similar and that the interpopulational genetic differentiation within both species was relatively high.Analysis of the genetic distance among populations also supported this conclusion.Low levels of interpopulational gene flow within both species were believed to be among the leading causes for the above-mentioned phenomenon.The correlation analysis between genetic and geographical distances showed the existence of a remarkably significant correlation between the genetic distance and the longitudinal difference among populations of D.sinensis (p＜0.01),while no significant correlation was found between genetic and geographical distances among populations of D.dyeriana.This indicated that genetic distance was correlated with geographical distances on a large scale rather than on a small scale.This result may be related to differences in the selection pressure on species by their habitats with different distribution ranges.We suggest that in situ conservation efforts should focus on establishing more sites to protect the natural populations and their habitats.Ex situ conservation efforts should focus on enhancing the exchange of seeds and seedlings among populations to facilitate gene exchange and recombination,and to help conserve genetic diversity.     

An analysis of genetic diversity and inbreeding in Wuchereria bancrofti: implications for the spread and detection of drug resistance

Estimates of genetic diversity in helminth infections of humans often have to rely on genotyping (immature) parasite transmission stages instead of adult worms. Here we analyse the results of one such study investigating a single polymorphic locus (a change at position 200 of the beta-tubulin gene) in microfilariae of the lymphatic filarial parasite Wuchereria bancrofti. The presence of this genetic change has been implicated in benzimidazole resistance in parasitic nematodes of farmed ruminants. Microfilariae were obtained from patients of three West African villages, two of which were sampled prior to the introduction of mass drug administration. An individual-based stochastic model was developed showing that a wide range of allele frequencies in the adult worm populations could have generated the observed microfilarial genetic diversity. This suggests that appropriate theoretical null models are required in order to interpret studies that genotype transmission stages. Wright's hierarchical F-statistic was used to investigate the population structure in W. bancrofti microfilariae and showed significant deficiency of heterozygotes compared to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium; this may be partially caused by a high degree of parasite genetic differentiation between hosts. Studies seeking to quantify accurately the genetic diversity of helminth populations by analysing transmission stages should increase their sample size to account for the variability in allele frequency between different parasite life-stages. Helminth genetic differentiation between hosts and non-random mating will also increase the number of hosts (and the number of samples per host) that need to be genotyped, and could enhance the rate of spread of anthelmintic resistance.     

Selection of different genotype larvae and adult worms for anthelmintic resistance by persistent and short-acting avermectin/milbemycins

To understand the factors that influence selection for anthelmintic resistance, it is necessary to examine the impact of drug treatment, particularly persistent drugs, on all phases of the worm life cycle. The efficacy of various avermectin/milbemycin anthelmintics was determined against resident worms, incoming larvae (L3) and development of eggs in faecal culture. Homozygote-resistant and maternal and paternal F1-heterozygote genotypes of Haemonchus contortus were used to infect sheep before or after treatment with ivermectin (IVM) oral, IVM capsule, moxidectin (MOX) oral or MOX injectable. Total worm count and quantitative larval culture were used to determine efficacy against parasitic and free-living stages, respectively. Selection for resistance by IVM capsules occurred at the adult and L3 stages because of poor efficacy against these stages for all resistant genotypes. However, the selective advantage of these surviving worms was reduced due to the low development of their eggs to L3 in faecal culture. For MOX, selection for resistance predominantly occurred after treatment because of high efficacy against resident adult worms of all resistant genotypes but poor efficacy against resistant L3 ingested after drug administration. The results indicated no evidence of sex-linked inheritance for IVM resistance. Mean IVM efficacies against homozygous and heterozygous resistant adult worms were not different, and IVM capsule efficacy against incoming L3 was approximately 70% for all resistant genotypes, consistent with a dominant trait. MOX was highly effective against adults of all resistant genotypes and approximately 76% effective against incoming L3 regardless of resistance genotype, also consistent with a dominant trait. These results will enable the impact of persistent drugs on worm control and anthelmintic resistance to be estimated. The results indicate that IVM capsules should not be used in populations where avermectin/milbemycin resistance is present.     

Genetic structure of kestrel populations and colonization of the Cape Verde archipelago

Genetic diversity and population structure were studied in eight populations of the kestrel Falco tinnunculus to identify the genetic consequences of spatial distribution and to infer the colonization patterns of the Cape Verde archipelago. We studied genetic differentiation and gene flow among seven island populations and one mainland population using nine microsatellite loci. Within the archipelago, differentiation was strong and genetic diversity and heterozygosity were low but variable among populations. Two subspecies F. tinnunculus neglectus on the northwestern islands and F. tinnunculus alexandri on all the other islands were identified as genetically distinct units. F. t. alexandri could be further separated into two groups on eastern and southern islands. Populations are probably founded by birds originating from the mainland. Immigration is more likely to the eastern and southern populations, whereas the northwestern islands with the lowest genetic diversity and highest differentiation are likely to exhibit fewer founding events by immigrants. The number of founding events on each island may depend not only on geographical distance to neighbouring populations, but also on directional immigration due to the northeastern trade winds. This may explain differences in genetic differentiation and diversity between populations and subspecies and may enable allopatric speciation.     

麦无网长管蚜不同地理种群遗传多样性的ISSR标记研究

为阐明麦无网长管蚜Metopolophium dirhodumus不同地理种群的遗传多样性,利用ISSR分子标记对6个地区（河北保定、定州、石家庄、邢台、邯郸,山东聊城）的麦无网长管蚜种群进行了遗传多样性研究。23条ISSR引物扩增出了297条清晰条带,其中172条（57.91%）具有多态性。遗传多样性分析结果表明：麦无网长管蚜群体间的遗传多样性（57.91%）高于群体内的遗传多样性（26.24%）,其中河北保定种群和河北邯郸种群的种群内遗传变异最小（24.92%）,河北石家庄种群的种群变异最大（41.75%）,河北和山东地区的种群（除河北石家庄）之间没有显著遗传差异。根据种群变异来源分析,有26.44%遗传变异来源于种群间,73.56%变异来自于种群内（Gst=0.2644）,不同地理种群间并没有出现分化现象（Nm=1.3910）。利用不加权算术平均法（UPGMA）对6个种群进行统计分析,构建进化树,发现6个种群分为了两大类,而其地理距离与遗传距离并不存在相关性,地理空间并未对其种群间的基因交流产生影响。麦无网长管蚜有较高的遗传多样性,而各个种群间并没有明显遗传分化的趋势。本研究有关麦无网长管蚜不同地理种群基因流和遗传变异将为控制麦蚜危害和田间综合防治提供必要的数据支持。     

Genomic signatures of selection associated with benzimidazole drug treatments in Haemonchus contortus field populations

Genome-wide methods offer a powerful approach to detect signatures of drug selection. However, limited availability of suitable reference genomes and the difficulty of obtaining field populations with well-defined, distinct drug treatment histories mean there is little information on the signatures of selection in parasitic nematodes and on how best to detect them. This study addresses these knowledge gaps by using field populations of Haemonchus contortus with well-defined benzimidazole treatment histories, leveraging a recently completed chromosomal-scale reference genome assembly. We generated a panel of 49,393 genomic markers to genotype 20 individual adult worms from each of four H. contortus populations: two from closed sheep flocks with an approximate 20 year history of frequent benzimidazole treatment, and two populations with a history of little or no treatment. Sampling occurred in the same geographical region to limit genetic differentiation and maximise the detection sensitivity. A clear signature of selection was detected on chromosome I, centred on the isotype-1 β-tubulin gene. Two additional, but weaker, signatures of selection were detected; one near the middle of chromosome I spanning 3.75 Mbp and 259 annotated genes, and one on chromosome II spanning a region of 3.3 Mbp and 206 annotated genes, including the isotype-2 β-tubulin locus. We also assessed how sensitivity was impacted by sequencing depth, worm number, and pooled versus individual worm sequence data. This study provides the first known direct genome-wide evidence for any parasitic nematode, that the isotype-1 β-tubulin gene is quantitatively the single most important benzimidazole resistance locus. It also identified two additional genomic regions that likely contain benzimidazole resistance loci of secondary importance. This study provides an experimental framework to maximise the power of genome-wide approaches to detect signatures of selection driven by anthelmintic drug treatments in field populations of parasitic nematodes.     

Application of SSR and AFLP to the analysis of genetic diversity in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis</Emphasis> (Rhodophyta)

The agarophyte Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis is both important for biological research and of significant economic value. However, the genetic diversity of wild populations of the alga has not been studied. We used amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) PCR and simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis to investigate diversity in four field populations, three from the coast of Qingdao and one from Weihai, China. Forty G. lemaneiformis isolates collected from the four different geographical groups were analyzed using 16 pairs of SSR primers for PCR amplification. However, no polymorphisms were detected, indicative of a degree of genetic homogeneity. A total of 347 reproducible bands were then amplified using eight AFLP primer pairs, and genetic indices of diversity within and between populations were calculated. This analysis revealed only low levels of genetic diversity both within and between the four geographical groups of G. lemaneiformis. The Weihai population showed a higher within-population genetic diversity than any of the Qingdao populations. The data suggest that there is only limited gene flow between populations. An UPGMA dendrogram revealed two main clusters, and one of these included all the Qingdao isolates. The order of clustering was in accordance with their geographical distribution. These results suggest that the wild G. lemaneiformis populations are closely related and that there is little genetic diversity within wild germplasm in the regions sampled.     

Gene flow, historical population dynamics and genetic diversity within French Guianan populations of a rainforest tree species, Vouacapoua americana

Both gene flow and historical events influence the genetic diversity of natural populations. One way to understand their respective impact is to analyze population genetic structure at large spatial scales. We studied the distribution of genetic diversity of 17 populations of Vouacapoua americana (Caesalpiniaceae) in French Guiana, using nine microsatellite loci. Low genetic diversity was observed within populations, with a mean allelic richness and gene diversity of 4.1 and 0.506, respectively, which could be due to low effective population size and/or past bottlenecks. Using the regression between Fst/(1-Fst), estimated between pairs of populations, and the logarithm of the geographical distance, the spatial genetic structure can partly be explained by isolation-by-distance and limited gene flow among populations. This result is in agreement with the species' biology, including seed and pollen dispersal by rodents and insects, respectively. In contrast, no clear genetic signal of historical events was found when examining genetic differentiation among populations in relation to biogeographical hypotheses or by testing for bottlenecks within populations. Our conclusion is that nuclear spatial genetic structure of V. americana, at the geographic scale of French Guiana, is better explained by gene flow rather than by historical events.     

Population genetic structure of Carchesium polypinum (Ciliophora: Peritrichia) in four Chinese lakes inferred from ISSR fingerprinting: high diversity but low differentiation

Although the peritrichous ciliate Carchesium polypinum is common in freshwater, its population genetic structure is largely unknown. We used inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) fingerprinting to analyze the genetic structure of 48 different isolates of the species from four lakes in Wuhan, central China. Using eight polymorphic primers, 81 discernible DNA fragments were detected, among which 76 (93.83%) were polymorphic, indicating high genetic diversity at the isolate level. Further, Nei's gene diversity (h) and Shannon's Information index (I) between the different isolates both revealed a remarkable genetic diversity, higher than previously indicated by their morphology. At the same time, substantial gene flow was found. So the main factors responsible for the high level of diversity within populations are probably due to conjugation (sexual reproduction) and wide distribution of swarmers. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that there was low genetic differentiation among the four populations probably due to common ancestry and flooding events. The cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that genotypes isolated from the same lake displayed a higher genetic similarity than those from different lakes. Both analyses separated C. polypinum isolates into subgroups according to the geographical locations. However, there is only a weak positive correlation between the genetic distance and geographical distance, suggesting a minor effect of geographical distance on the distribution of genetic diversity between populations of C. polypinum at the local level. In conclusion, our studies clearly demonstrated that a single morphospecies may harbor high levels of genetic diversity, and that the degree of resolution offered by morphology as a marker for measuring distribution patterns of genetically distinct entities is too low.     

Molecular investigation on strain genetic relatedness and population structure of Beauveria bassiana

Triplicate molecular methods, i.e. polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the pr1 gene, microsatellite markers and 28S rDNA haplotyping by detecting the presence or absence of group I introns, were used for population study of the entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana. The findings showed that the average genetic diversity index of geographical populations was significantly smaller than that of populations derived from insect host orders, indicating that the genetic relatedness of B. bassiana strains was highly associated with geographical locality rather than insect host species. The reproductive style of all the B. bassiana populations was found to be non-clonal. Population structure analysis revealed that the average divergent coefficient among populations of B. bassiana was far below 1 (0.1112), which indicated that there was no significant genetic differentiation between populations, and that the overall genetic diversity mainly resulted from the genetic variations within geographical populations. Statistically, genetic distances between populations were positively correlated with geographical distances, suggesting that geographical separation poses an obstacle to the possibility and frequency of genetic exchanges between populations. On the other hand, gene flow was indirectly established to occur between B. bassiana populations.     

Microsatellite analysis of genetic population structure in an endangered salmonid: the coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki)

The genetic population structure of coastal cutthroat trout ( Oncorhynchus clarki clarki ) in Washington state was investigated by analysis of variation in allele frequencies at six highly polymorphic microsatellite loci for 13 anadromous populations, along with one outgroup population from the Yellowstone subspecies ( O. clarki bouvieri) (mean heterozygosity = 67%; average number of alleles per locus = 24). Tests for genetic differentiation revealed highly significant differences in genotypic frequencies for pairwise comparisons between all populations within geographical regions and overall population subdivision was substantial ( F _ST = 0.121, R _ST = 0.093), with 44.6% and 55.4% of the among-population diversity being attributable to differences between streams ( F _SR = 0.054) and between regions ( F _RT = 0.067), respectively. Analysis of genetic distances and geographical distances did not support a simple model of isolation by distance for these populations. With one exception, neighbour-joining dendrograms from the Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards' chord distances and maximum likelihood algorithms clustered populations by physiogeographic region, although overall bootstrap support was relatively low (53%). Our results suggest that coastal cutthroat trout populations are ultimately structured genetically at the level of individual streams. It appears that the dynamic balance between gene flow and genetic drift in the subspecies favours a high degree of genetic differentiation and population subdivision with the simultaneous maintenance of high heterozygosity levels within local populations. Results are discussed in terms of coastal cutthroat trout ecology along with implications for the designation of evolutionarily significant units pursuant to the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 and analogous conservation units.     

Selection for anthelmintic resistance by macrocyclic lactones in Haemonchus contortus.

Two morphologically marked strains of Haemonchus contortus, CAVRS (smooth-macrocyclic lactone resistant) and McMaster (linguiform-macrocyclic lactone susceptible), were used to investigate the selection for anthelmintic resistance following exposure to ivermectin (IVM), a non-persistent anthelmintic. and a more persistent anthelmintic, oral moxidectin (MOX). Three types of selection were investigated: (1) selection of resident worms at the time of treatment (Head selection); (2) selection of incoming-larvae post-treatment (Tail selection); and (3) selection of both resident population and incoming larvae (Head + Tail selection). The experimental animals were adult sheep and lambs. In the controls where there was no anthelmintic selection, the proportion of CAVRS in the adult worm population was the same as the proportion in larvae given to both adults and lambs indicating that CAVRS and McMaster H. contortus were equally infective. There was a significant effect of anthelmintic on total worm numbers in adult sheep with MOX treated adults having less worms, but selection type was non-significant. Anthelmintic type had a significant effect on numbers of resistant worms in adult sheep with less resistant worms in the MOX treated groups, but selection type had no effect. Analysis of variance of arcsine-transformed proportions of resistant worms found that the type of anthelmintic had a highly significant effect, with MOX treated adults having a higher proportion of resistant worms, while type of selection was not significant. In the lambs, nil treated controls and IVM Head + Tail and Tail selected groups had similar geometric mean total worm burdens while Head selected had less total worms. In the MOX treated lamb groups the worm burdens were similar within selection type but less than the IVM treated groups. In the lambs, the types of selection that resulted in more resistant worms were IVM Tail, MOX Head + Tail and MOX Tail. Resistant worm numbers were similar in both adult and lamb groups with Head selection by either MOX or IVM. Moxidectin selected out higher proportions of resistant worms than did IVM in the lambs, with Tail and Head + Tail being stronger selectors than Head. Computer simulations were used to estimate the rate at which resistance developed in the field using the information generated in the present study. The anthelmintic treatments used in the simulation followed a strategic parasite control program for H. contortus in which all sheep receive three Closantel (CLS) treatments in summer. all sheep receive a broad-spectrum (BS) drench or capsule at weaning and lambs receive an additional two BS drenches insummer or no further treatment in the case of the capsule. Moxidectin, IVM-capsule and IVM were the broad spectrum anthelmintics simulated. All simulations were run four times assuming high or low efficacy against resident resistant worms and in the presence or absence of CLS resistance. The simulations indicated that the presence of CLS resistance hastened selection for macrocyclic lactone (ML) resistance. While the IVM-capsule will select most rapidly for ML resistance, IVM oral is expected to be least selective. Moxidectin treatment is intermediate, except in simulations with no CLS resistance and when MOX is assumed to be highly effective against resident ML-resistant worms, in which case MOX can be expected to select more slowly than IVM oral treatments.