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Host specificity of avian haemosporidian parasites is unrelated among sister lineages but shows phylogenetic signal across larger clades

Ellis, Vincenzo A. LU and Bensch, Staffan LU (2018) In International Journal for Parasitology 48(12). p.897-902
Abstract

Parasites can vary in the number of host species they infect, a trait known as “host specificity”. Here we quantify phylogenetic signal—the tendency for closely related species to resemble each other more than distantly related species—in host specificity of avian haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon) using data from MalAvi, the global avian haemosporidian database. We used the genetic data (479 base pairs of cytochrome b) that define parasite lineages to produce genus level phylogenies. Combining host specificity data with those phylogenies revealed significant levels of phylogenetic signal while controlling for sampling effects; phylogenetic signal was higher when the phylogenetic diversity of... (More)

Parasites can vary in the number of host species they infect, a trait known as “host specificity”. Here we quantify phylogenetic signal—the tendency for closely related species to resemble each other more than distantly related species—in host specificity of avian haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon) using data from MalAvi, the global avian haemosporidian database. We used the genetic data (479 base pairs of cytochrome b) that define parasite lineages to produce genus level phylogenies. Combining host specificity data with those phylogenies revealed significant levels of phylogenetic signal while controlling for sampling effects; phylogenetic signal was higher when the phylogenetic diversity of hosts was taken into account. We then tested for correlations in the host specificity of pairs of sister lineages. Correlations were generally close to zero for all three parasite genera. These results suggest that while the host specificity of parasite sister lineages differ, larger clades may be relatively specialised or generalised.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Avian malaria, Haemosporida, Host breadth, Parasite evolution, Phylogenetic signal
in
International Journal for Parasitology
volume
48
issue
12
pages
897 - 902
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85051665353
  • pmid:30076910
ISSN
0020-7519
DOI
10.1016/j.ijpara.2018.05.005
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
49253583-e20b-4860-a0c4-b46352817949
date added to LUP
2018-09-12 14:09:39
date last changed
2024-06-10 17:16:02
@article{49253583-e20b-4860-a0c4-b46352817949,
  abstract     = {{<p>Parasites can vary in the number of host species they infect, a trait known as “host specificity”. Here we quantify phylogenetic signal—the tendency for closely related species to resemble each other more than distantly related species—in host specificity of avian haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon) using data from MalAvi, the global avian haemosporidian database. We used the genetic data (479 base pairs of cytochrome b) that define parasite lineages to produce genus level phylogenies. Combining host specificity data with those phylogenies revealed significant levels of phylogenetic signal while controlling for sampling effects; phylogenetic signal was higher when the phylogenetic diversity of hosts was taken into account. We then tested for correlations in the host specificity of pairs of sister lineages. Correlations were generally close to zero for all three parasite genera. These results suggest that while the host specificity of parasite sister lineages differ, larger clades may be relatively specialised or generalised.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ellis, Vincenzo A. and Bensch, Staffan}},
  issn         = {{0020-7519}},
  keywords     = {{Avian malaria; Haemosporida; Host breadth; Parasite evolution; Phylogenetic signal}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{897--902}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{International Journal for Parasitology}},
  title        = {{Host specificity of avian haemosporidian parasites is unrelated among sister lineages but shows phylogenetic signal across larger clades}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2018.05.005}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ijpara.2018.05.005}},
  volume       = {{48}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}