Identification of a genetic locus, Rsm-1, controlling protective immunity against Schistosoma mansoni

Mice of most inbred strains develop moderate to high levels of resistance to challenge infection on vaccination with radiation-attenuated cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni. P strain mice, however, fail to display significant protective immunity after exposure to the same vaccine. To examine the genetic basis of this polymorphism in host immunity, vaccine-induced resistance was examined in (C57/BL6J X P/N)F1, F2, and reciprocal backcross generations. The defective immunity which characterizes the P strain parent was found to be inherited in a fully recessive manner and to be controlled by a single genetic locus, which we have designated Rsm-1. Linkage analyses revealed that Rsm-1 is not genetically associated with the major histocompatibility complex (chromosome 17), the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus (chromosome 12), or a single locus influencing defective anti-schistosomulum IgM antibody responses in the P parental stock. These data provide the first example of single gene control of vaccine-induced immunity against a helminth infection. Because P mice are also defective in their capacity to develop tumoricidal macrophages and in their immunity to Leishmania major, genes encoded by the Rsm-1 locus may play a general role in resistance to infection and malignancy.