Diversification by host switching and dispersal shaped the diversity and distribution of avian malaria parasites in Amazonia
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Understanding how pathogens and parasites diversify through time and space is fundamental to predicting emerging infectious diseases. Here, we use biogeographic, coevolutionary and phylogenetic analyses to describe the origin, diversity, and distribution of avian malaria parasites in the most diverse avifauna on Earth. We first performed phylogenetic analyses using the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene to determine relationships among parasite lineages. Then, we estimated divergence times and reconstructed ancestral areas to uncover how landscape evolution has shaped the diversification of Parahaemoproteus and Plasmodium in Amazonia. Finally, we assessed the coevolutionary patterns of diversification in this host-parasite system to determine how coevolution may have influenced the contemporary diversity of avian malaria parasites and their distribution among Amazonian birds. Biogeographic analysis of 324 haemosporidian parasite lineages recovered from 4178 individual birds provided strong evidence that these parasites readily disperse across major Amazonian rivers and this has occurred with increasing frequency over the last five million years. We also recovered many duplication events within areas of endemism in Amazonia. Cophylogenetic analyses of these blood parasites and their avian hosts support a diversification history dominated by host switching. The ability of avian malaria parasites to disperse geographically and shift among avian hosts has played a major role in their radiation and has shaped the current distribution and diversity of these parasites across Amazonia.
Date Issued
2018-09-01
Date Acceptance
2018-02-16
Citation
Oikos, 2018, 127 (9), pp.1233-1242
ISSN
0030-1299
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1233
End Page
1242
Journal / Book Title
Oikos
Volume
127
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Authors. Oikos © 2018 Nordic Society Oiko. This is the accepted version of the following article: Fecchio, A. , Bell, J. A., Collins, M. D., Farias, I. P., Trisos, C. H., Tobias, J. A., Tkach, V. V., Weckstein, J. D., Ricklefs, R. E. and Batalha‐Filho, H. (2018), Diversification by host switching and dispersal shaped the diversity and distribution of avian malaria parasites in Amazonia. Oikos. . doi:10.1111/oik.05115, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/oik.05115
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Ecology
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
macroevolution
parasite diversity
parasite dispersal
CYTOCHROME-B LINEAGES
BLOOD PARASITES
HAEMOSPORIDIAN PARASITES
EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIPS
HAPLOTYPE RECONSTRUCTION
MOLECULAR CLOCK
SPECIATION
PATTERNS
BIRDS
ASSOCIATIONS
0602 Ecology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-02-21