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A n a i s d o I HM T
ecological and evolutionary processes (i.e., mutation, ge-
netic drift, natural selection, and migration) important to
vector-borne diseases through the analysis of spatial and
temporal patterns of genetic variation in arthropod vec-
tors and their pathogens.
Many GHTM researchers have skills and use regularly bio-
informatics tools applied to the phylogenetics and popula-
tion genetics studies of several vectors and vector-borne
pathogens.
TheTraining School 6 on the “Phylogenetic and population
genetics tools for vectors and vector-borne pathogens”
was held at the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical
(IHMT) in Lisbon, Portugal between 23
rd
-27
th
of January
2017.
Objectives
This Training School focused on the application of phy-
logenetics and population genetics tools in vector and
vector-borne pathogens research. It was organized in
theoretical and practical sessions in order to:
1. Understand the basic principles of phylogenetics and
population genetics necessary to conceive and develop
such studies.
2. Learn from examples of phylogeographic and popu-
lation genetic studies on vectors and vector-borne patho-
gens.
3. Understand the implications of such studies for the sur-
veillance of vector-borne disease and vector control.
4. Practice on several Population genetics and Phyloge-
netic analysis programs.
We have made use of the following freeware programs:
Seaview, Jalview, Mega6, Beast, Tracer, FigTree, Split-
sTree4, Structure, Arlequin, Genepop, Clumpak, Har-
vester, PhyML.
All learning materials were available for all the train-
ees through the IHMT’s Moodle site (http://moodle.
ihmt.unl.pt/) previously prepared by the Informatics
team of the Institute, which also helped in setting up
the class room and gave support to individual trainees
with specific technical problems.
Team
Local organizers:
Patrícia Salgueiro, Celeste Figueiredo
Trainers (9):
Ana Abecasis-AA, Andrea Clemencia Pineda-ACP, Carla
Maia- CM, João Pinto-JP, Marta Pingarilho-MP, Patrí-
cia Salgueiro-PS, Ricardo Parreira-RP, Sofia Cortes-SC
(IHMT/GHTM, Lisbon, Portugal)
Special invitation:Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz-ACC (Institute
of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of
Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia,
Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic)
Training School 6
Program available in the site [8]:
http://www.eurnegvec.org/6ts.html.
Day 1
(22
nd
January):The trainees arrived in Lisbon in the
afternoon and settled in.
Day 2
(23
rd
January): The training school was officially
opened by Professor Lenea Campino (President of the
Scientific Council of IHMT) at 15h. All the trainers and
trainees introduced themselves. The organizer Patrícia
Salgueiro made a short overview of the course. To close
the day Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz gave a motivational Con-
ference entitled: “What makes great scientists great? Stay
Hungry, Stay Foolish”.
During morning and afternoon sessions, the organization
provided coffee-breaks to all participants.The lunches oc-
curred in the canteen of the Institute.
Day 3
(24
th
January):The first session was divided in two
lectures: 1) “Genetic structure of mosquito vectors: Im-
pact on the epidemiology and control of malaria” by João
Pinto; 2) “Molecular Epidemiology of Mosquito vectors:
Aedes sp.
Studies” by P. Salgueiro.
The second session, in the afternoon, continued with a
major practical session on Population genetics data analy-
sis involving: 1) Basic principles in population genetics, 2)
Overview of the most common programs, 3) Practical ex-
ercises, by the same trainers as in the morning.
Day 4
(25
th
January):The morning session was initiated by
Ana Abecasis with an overview on “Basic concepts in se-
quence alignment and phylogenetic analysis”, followed by
Ricardo Parreira who presented a lecture on “Molecular
Epidemiology and Phylogenetic Analyses of Arboviruses
Transmitted by Mosquitoes”.
The afternoon session was spent on practical sessions:
1) Aligning sequences using Mega, 2) Construction and
interpretation of phylogenetic trees: Mega, Phylip and
PhyML, with several input files, with the support of AA,
RP, MP,ACP.
Day 5
(26th January):The training school was opened by
Carla Maia and Sofia Cortes with a lecture on “Molecular
Epidemiology of Leishmanioses”, followed by a lecture on
“The evolution of tick-pathogen interactions” byAlejandro
Cabezas-Cruz.