Different meal, same flavor: cospeciation and host switching of haemosporidian parasites in some non-passerine birds

Abstract

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that haemosporidian parasites (Haemoproteus (Parahaemoproteus) and Plasmodium) infecting passerine birds have an evolutionary history of host switching with little cospeciation, in particular at low taxonomic levels (e.g., below the family level), which is suggested as the main speciation mechanism of this group of parasites. Recent studies have characterized diverse clades of haemosporidian parasites (H. (Haemoproteus) and H. (Parahaemoproteus)) infecting non-passerine birds (e.g., Columbiformes, Pelecaniiformes). Here, we explore the cospeciation history of H. (Haemoproteus) and H. (Parahaemoproteus) parasites with their non-passerine hosts.MethodsWe sequenced the mtDNA cyt b gene of both haemosporidian parasites and their avian non-passerine hosts. We built Bayesian phylogenetic hypotheses and created concensus phylograms that were subsequently used to conduct cospeciation analyses. We used both a global cospeciation test, PACo, and an event-cost algorithm implemented in CoRe-PA.ResultsThe global test suggests that H. (Haemoproteus) and H. (Parahaemoproteus) parasites have a diversification history dominated by cospeciation events particularly at the family level. Host-parasite links from the PACo analysis show that host switching events are common within families (i.e., among genera and among species within genera), and occasionally across different orders (e.g., Columbiformes to Pelecaniiformes). Event-cost analyses show that haemosporidian coevolutionary history is dominated by host switching and some codivergence, but with duplication events also present. Genetic lineages unique to raptor species (e.g., FALC11) commonly switch between Falconiformes and Strigiformes.ConclusionsOur results corroborate previous findings that have detected a global cospeciation signal at the family taxonomic level, and they also support a history of frequent switching closer to the tips of the host phylogeny, which seems to be the main diversification mechanism of haemosporidians. Such dynamic host-parasite associations are relevant to the epidemiology of emerging diseases because low parasite host specificity is a prerequisite for the emergence of novel diseases. The evidence on host distributions suggests that haemosporidian parasites have the potential to rapidly develop novel host-associations. This pattern has also been recorded in fish-monogenean interactions, suggesting a general diversification mechanism for parasites when host choice is not restricted by ecological barriers.

Population structure of a vector‐borne plant parasite

“…; Santiago‐Alarcon et al . ; Choi & Thines ). Studies of parasite population genetic structure can inform how speciation via host‐switching unfolds.…”

Avian haemosporidian parasites in an urban forest and their relationship to bird size and abundance

“…Merino et al 2000;Marzal et al 2005;Palinauskas et al 2008). Although parasitologists long believed that avian haemosporidian parasites were host specific (Bennett et al 1993(Bennett et al , 1994, recent studies have shown that avian haemosporidian parasites have an evolutionary history of host switching with little codivergence (Bensch et al 2000;Ricklefs et al 2004;Santiago-Alarcon et al 2014). Haemosporidians are mainly transmitted by five families of Diptera: Culicidae, Hippoboscidae, Simuliidae, Ceratopogonidae and Psychodidae (Valkiūnas 2005;SantiagoAlarcon et al 2012b).…”

Highly rearranged mitochondrial genome in Nycteria parasites (Haemosporidia) from bats

“…cytochrome b | evolution | phylogeny | Nycteris H aemosporidia blood parasites (phylum Apicomplexa) are vector-borne protozoan parasites that infect multiple vertebrate hosts such as squamates, chelonians, birds, and mammals, including humans, in which five species of the genus Plasmodium are known to cause malaria (1,2). The diversity of Haemosporidia has been mostly investigated using mitochondrial genes.…”