Natural History of Host-Parasite Interactions

AbstractIntimate ecological interactions, such as those between parasites and their hosts, may persist over long time spans, coupling the evolutionary histories of the lineages involved. Most methods that reconstruct the coevolutionary history of such associations make the simplifying assumption that parasites have a single host. Many methods also focus on congruence between host and parasite phylogenies, using cospeciation as the null model. However, there is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that the host ranges of parasites are more complex: that host ranges often include more than one host and evolve via gains and losses of hosts rather than through cospeciation alone. Here, we develop a Bayesian approach for inferring coevolutionary history based on a model accommodating these complexities. Specifically, a parasite is assumed to have a host repertoire, which includes both potential hosts and one or more actual hosts. Over time, potential hosts can be added or lost, and potential hosts can develop into actual hosts or vice versa. Thus, host colonization is modeled as a two-step process, which may potentially be influenced by host relatedness or host traits. We first explore the statistical behavior of our model by simulating evolution of host-parasite interactions under a range of parameters. We then use our approach, implemented in the program RevBayes, to infer the coevolutionary history between 34 Nymphalini butterfly species and 25 angiosperm families.

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Trichuris murisresearch revisited: a journey through time

Parasitology ◽

10.1017/s0031182013001054 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 140 (11) ◽

pp. 1325-1339 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

REBECCA J. M. HURST ◽

KATHRYN J. ELSE

Keyword(s):

Immune Responses ◽

Research Papers ◽

Trichuris Muris ◽

Cellular Immunology ◽

Host Parasite Interactions ◽

History Of ◽

Parasite Biology ◽

Definition Of ◽

Host Parasite

SUMMARYThe mouse whipwormTrichuris murishas long been used as a tractable model of human Trichuriasis. Here we look back at the history ofT. murisresearch; from the definition of the species and determination of its life cycle, through to the complex immune responses that we study today. We highlight the key research papers that have developed our understanding of immune responses to this parasite, and reflect on how original concepts have been transformed, as our knowledge of immunology has grown. Although we have a good understanding of host–parasite interactions in the context of the underlying cellular immunology, there are still many aspects of the biology of theTrichurisparasite that remain undefined. We predict that advances in parasite biology will be key in the future development of new and improved treatments for Trichuriasis.

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Bayesian Inference of Ancestral Host–Parasite Interactions under a Phylogenetic Model of Host Repertoire Evolution

Systematic Biology ◽

10.1093/sysbio/syaa019 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 69 (6) ◽

pp. 1149-1162 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mariana P Braga ◽

Michael J Landis ◽

Sören Nylin ◽

Niklas Janz ◽

Fredrik Ronquist

Keyword(s):

Null Model ◽

Butterfly Species ◽

Host Parasite Interactions ◽

Single Host ◽

Long Time ◽

History Of ◽

Host Parasite ◽

Gains And Losses ◽

Parameter Values ◽

Coevolutionary History

Abstract Intimate ecological interactions, such as those between parasites and their hosts, may persist over long time spans, coupling the evolutionary histories of the lineages involved. Most methods that reconstruct the coevolutionary history of such interactions make the simplifying assumption that parasites have a single host. Many methods also focus on congruence between host and parasite phylogenies, using cospeciation as the null model. However, there is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that the host ranges of parasites are more complex: that host ranges often include more than one host and evolve via gains and losses of hosts rather than through cospeciation alone. Here, we develop a Bayesian approach for inferring coevolutionary history based on a model accommodating these complexities. Specifically, a parasite is assumed to have a host repertoire, which includes both potential hosts and one or more actual hosts. Over time, potential hosts can be added or lost, and potential hosts can develop into actual hosts or vice versa. Thus, host colonization is modeled as a two-step process that may potentially be influenced by host relatedness. We first explore the statistical behavior of our model by simulating evolution of host–parasite interactions under a range of parameter values. We then use our approach, implemented in the program RevBayes, to infer the coevolutionary history between 34 Nymphalini butterfly species and 25 angiosperm families. Our analysis suggests that host relatedness among angiosperm families influences how easily Nymphalini lineages gain new hosts. [Ancestral hosts; coevolution; herbivorous insects; probabilistic modeling.]

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The unlimited potential of the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.56962 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

István Fodor ◽

Ahmed AA Hussein ◽

Paul R Benjamin ◽

Joris M Koene ◽

Zsolt Pirger

Keyword(s):

Animal Species ◽

Lymnaea Stagnalis ◽

Large Range ◽

Model Organism ◽

Freshwater Snail ◽

Model Organisms ◽

Pond Snail ◽

Host Parasite Interactions ◽

History Of ◽

Host Parasite

Only a limited number of animal species lend themselves to becoming model organisms in multiple biological disciplines: one of these is the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. Extensively used since the 1970s to study fundamental mechanisms in neurobiology, the value of this freshwater snail has been also recognised in fields as diverse as host–parasite interactions, ecotoxicology, evolution, genome editing and 'omics', and human disease modelling. While there is knowledge about the natural history of this species, what is currently lacking is an integration of findings from the laboratory and the field. With this in mind, this article aims to summarise the applicability of L. stagnalis and points out that this multipurpose model organism is an excellent, contemporary choice for addressing a large range of different biological questions, problems and phenomena.

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How is the moral stance related to the intentional stance and group thinking?

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19002413 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

Author(s):

Hannes Rakoczy

Keyword(s):

Natural History ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Intentional Stance ◽

Cognitive Capacities ◽

Shared Intentionality ◽

History Of ◽

Group Thinking ◽

Moral Stance

Abstract The natural history of our moral stance told here in this commentary reveals the close nexus of morality and basic social-cognitive capacities. Big mysteries about morality thus transform into smaller and more manageable ones. Here, I raise questions regarding the conceptual, ontogenetic, and evolutionary relations of the moral stance to the intentional and group stances and to shared intentionality.

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