The relevance of evolutionary genetics for identification of Trichinella sp and other pathogens at the strain, subspecies and species levels

In the specific field of Trichinella research, the impact of evolutionary m ethods has been until now limited. This is all the more distressing, since this group of parasites is characterized by hard taxonomical problems. More over, for the epidemiological tracking of Trichinella populations, high-dis criminating genetic typing, conveniently analyzed by population genetic met hods, could be of considerable help. With no additional efforts, many molec ular data are already available and could be used for retrospective analyse s able to solve many taxonomical problems. It is desirable that coming stud ies are specifically designed according to evolutionary genetics principles and the question under study (sample size, selection of the appropriate ma rker).