@article {96436, title = {Mitochondrial Genome Fragmentation Occurred Multiple Times Independently in Bird Lice of the Families Menoponidae and Laemobothriidae}, journal = {Animals}, volume = {13}, year = {2023}, month = {Jun-20-2023}, pages = {16 pp}, type = {Open Access}, abstract = {

Mitochondrial (mt) genome fragmentation has been discovered in all five parvorders of parasitic lice (Phthiraptera). To explore whether minichromosomal characters derived from mt genome fragmentation are informative for phylogenetic studies, we sequenced the mt genomes of 17 species of bird lice in Menoponidae and Laemobothriidae (Amblycera). Four species of Menoponidae (Actornithophilus sp. 1 ex [pied oystercatcher], Act. sp. 2 ex [masked lapwing], Austromenopon sp. 2 ex [sooty tern and crested tern], Myr. sp. 1 ex [satin bowerbird]) have fragmented mt genomes, whereas the other 13 species retain the single-chromosome mt genomes. The two Actornithophilus species have five and six mt minichromosomes, respectively. Aus. sp. 2 ex [sooty tern and crested tern] has two mt minichromosomes, in contrast to Aus. sp. 1 ex [sooty shearwater], which has a single mt chromosome. Myr. sp. 1 ex [satin bowerbird] has four mt minichromosomes. When mapped on the phylogeny of Menoponidae and Laemobothriidae, it is evident that mt genome fragmentation has occurred multiple times independently among Menoponidae and Laemobothriidae species. We found derived mt minichromosomal characters shared between Myrsidea species, between Actornithophilus species, and between and among different ischnoceran genera, respectively. We conclude that while mt genome fragmentation as a general feature does not unite all the parasitic lice that have this feature, each independent mt genome fragmentation event does produce minichromosomal characters that can be informative for phylogenetic studies of parasitic lice at different taxonomic levels.

This article belongs to the Special Issue Parasitic Arthropods of Vertebrates

Reviewers report and responses see https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/12/2046/review_report

}, keywords = {mitochondrial genome fragmentation, Phylogeny}, issn = {2076-2615}, doi = {10.3390/ani13122046}, url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/12/2046}, author = {Yalun Dong and Martina Jelocnik and Amber Gillett and Ludovica Valenza and Gabriel Conroy and Dominique Potvin and Renfu Shao} } @article {96391, title = {Mitochondrial genome sequence comparisons indicate that the elephant louse Haematomyzus elephantis (Piaget, 1869) contains cryptic species}, journal = {Medical and Veterinary Entomology}, year = {2023}, month = {Oct-18-2023}, pages = {6 pp}, type = {Short communication}, abstract = {

The parvorder Rhynchopthirina contains three currently recognised species of lice that parasitize elephants (both African savanna elephant Loxodonta africana and Asian elephant Elephas maximus), desert warthogs (Phacochoerus aethiopicus) and Red River hogs (Potamochoerus porcus), respectively. The Asian elephant lice and the African savanna elephant lice are currently treated as the same species, Haematomyzus elephantis (Piaget, 1869), based on morphology despite the fact that their hosts diverged 8.4 million years ago. In the current study, we sequenced 23 mitochondrial (mt) genes of African savanna elephant lice collected in South Africa and analysed the sequence divergence between African savanna elephant lice and previously sequenced Asian elephant lice. Sequence comparisons revealed \>23\% divergence for the 23 mt genes as a whole and ~17\% divergence for cox1 gene between African savanna and Asian elephant lice, which were far higher than the divergence expected within a species. Furthermore, the mt gene sequence divergences between these lice are 3.76\–4.6 times higher than that between their hosts, the African savanna and Asian elephants, which are expected for the co-divergence and co-evolution between lice and their elephant hosts. We conclude that (1) H. elephantis (Piaget, 1869) contains cryptic species and (2) African savanna and Asian elephant lice are different species genetically that may have co-diverged and co-evolved with their hosts.

}, keywords = {co-divergence and co-evolution, DNA barcode, ectoparasites, elephant lice, Mitochondrial genome, Rhynchopthirina}, issn = {0269-283X, 1365-2915}, doi = {10.1111/mve.12699}, url = {https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mve.12699}, author = {Sarah Kelly and Yalun Dong and Wei Wang and Matthee,Sonja and Jeanette M. Wentzel and Lance A. Durden and Renfu Shao} } @article {96326, title = {Human pediculosis, a global public health problem}, journal = {Infectious Diseases of Poverty}, volume = {11}, year = {2022}, month = {May-26-2022}, pages = {15 pp}, abstract = {

Background Human pediculosis is caused by hematophagous lice, which are transmitted between individuals via direct and/or indirect contact. Despite the public health importance of louse infestation, information concerning the global burden of pediculosis and the epidemiological landscape of louse-borne diseases is limited. The aim of this review was to summarize the biology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and control of lice infestation in humans. We also discussed the latest advances in molecular taxonomy and molecular genetics of lice.

Methods We searched five electronic bibliographic databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, CNKI, VIP Chinese Journal Database, and Wanfang Data) and followed a standard approach for conducting scoping reviews to identify studies on various aspects of human lice. Relevant information reported in the identified studies were collated, categorized, and summarized.

Results A total of 282 studies were eligible for the final review. Human pediculosis remains a public health issue affecting millions of people worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that head lice and body lice should be considered conspecific, with different genotypes and ecotypes. Phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial (mt) cytb gene sequences identified six distinct clades of lice worldwide. In addition to the direct effect on human health, lice can serve as vectors of disease-causing pathogens. The use of insecticides plays a crucial role in the treatment and prevention of louse infestation. Genome sequencing has advanced our knowledge of the genetic structure and evolutionary biology of human lice.

Conclusions Human pediculosis is a public health problem affecting millions of people worldwide, particularly in developing countries. More progress can be made if emphasis is placed on the use of emerging omics technologies to elucidate the mechanisms that underpin the physiological, ecological, and evolutionary aspects of lice.

}, keywords = {human lice, Omics technology, Pediculosis, Phylogenetics, public health}, issn = {2049-9957}, doi = {10.1186/s40249-022-00986-w}, url = {https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-022-00986-w}, author = {Yi-Tian Fu and Chaoqun Yao and Yuan-Ping Deng and Hany M. Elsheikha and Renfu Shao and Xing-Quan Zhu and Guo-Hua Liu} } @article {96211, title = {Second-generation sequencing of entire mitochondrial coding-regions (\~{}15.4 kb) holds promise for study of the phylogeny and taxonomy of human body lice and head lice}, journal = {Medical and Veterinary Entomology}, volume = {28}, year = {2014}, month = {Aug-01-2014}, pages = {40-50}, abstract = {

The Illumina Hiseq platform was used to sequence the entire mitochondrial coding-regions of 20 body lice, Pediculus humanus Linnaeus, and head lice, P. capitis De Geer (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae), from eight towns and cities in five countries: Ethiopia, France, China, Australia and the U.S.A. These data (\∼310\ kb) were used to see how much more informative entire mitochondrial coding-region sequences were than partial mitochondrial coding-region sequences, and thus to guide the design of future studies of the phylogeny, origin, evolution and taxonomy of body lice and head lice. Phylogenies were compared from entire coding-region sequences (\∼15.4\ kb), entire cox1 (\∼1.5\ kb), partial cox1 (\∼700\ bp) and partial cytb (\∼600\ bp) sequences. On the one hand, phylogenies from entire mitochondrial coding-region sequences (\∼15.4\ kb) were much more informative than phylogenies from entire cox1 sequences (\∼1.5\ kb) and partial gene sequences (\∼600 to \∼700\ bp). For example, 19 branches had \>\ 95\% bootstrap support in our maximum likelihood tree from the entire mitochondrial coding-regions (\∼15.4\ kb) whereas the tree from 700\ bp cox1 had only two branches with bootstrap support \>\ 95\%. Yet, by contrast, partial cytb (\∼600\ bp) and partial cox1 (\∼486\ bp) sequences were sufficient to genotype lice to Clade A, B or C. The sequences of the mitochondrial genomes of the P. humanus, P. capitis and P. schaeffi Fahrenholz studied are in NCBI GenBank under the accession numbers KC660761-800, KC685631-6330, KC241882-97, EU219988-95, HM241895-8 and JX080388-407.

}, keywords = {evolutionary genetics, mitochon- drial coding-region}, issn = {0269-283X}, doi = {10.1111/mve.12076}, url = {https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mve.12076}, author = {H. Xiong and D. Campelo and Richard J. Pollack and Didier Raoult and Renfu Shao and M. Alem and J. Ali and K. Bilcha and Stephen C. Barker} } @article {95968, title = {Frequent tRNA gene translocation towards the boundaries with control regions contributes to the highly dynamic mitochondrial genome organization of the parasitic lice of mammals}, journal = {BMC Genomics}, volume = {22}, year = {2021}, month = {Aug-06-2021}, pages = {16 pp}, abstract = {

Background The typical single-chromosome mitochondrial (mt) genome of animals has fragmented into multiple minichromosomes in the lineage Mitodivisia, which contains most of the parasitic lice of eutherian mammals. These parasitic lice differ from each other even among congeneric species in mt karyotype, i.e. the number of minichromosomes, and the gene content and gene order in each minichromosome, which is in stark contrast to the extremely conserved single-chromosome mt genomes across most animal lineages. How fragmented mt genomes evolved is still poorly understood. We use Polyplax sucking lice as a model to investigate how tRNA gene translocation shapes the dynamic mt karyotypes.

Results We sequenced the full mt genome of the Asian grey shrew louse, Polyplax reclinata. We then inferred the ancestral mt karyotype for Polyplax lice and compared it with the mt karyotypes of the three Polyplax species sequenced to date. We found that tRNA genes were entirely responsible for mt karyotype variation among these three species of Polyplax lice. Furthermore, tRNA gene translocation observed in Polyplax lice was only between different types of minichromosomes and towards the boundaries with the control region. A similar pattern of tRNA gene translocation can also been seen in other sucking lice with fragmented mt genomes.

Conclusions We conclude that inter-minichromosomal tRNA gene translocation orientated towards the boundaries with the control region is a major contributing factor to the highly dynamic mitochondrial genome organization in the parasitic lice of mammals.

}, keywords = {genome fragmentation, Microthoradus praelongiceps, Mitochondrial karyotype, Parasitic lice, Pediculus badii, tRNA translocation}, issn = {1471-2164}, doi = {10.1186/s12864-021-07859-w}, url = {https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-021-07859-w}, author = {Dong,Wen-ge and Yalun Dong and Guo,Xian-guo and Renfu Shao} } @article {95718, title = {Fragmented mitochondrial genomes of seal lice (family Echinophthiriidae) and gorilla louse (family Pthiridae): frequent minichromosomal splits and a host switch of lice between seals}, volume = {23}, year = {2022}, month = {Apr-08-2022}, abstract = {

Background The mitochondrial (mt) genomes of 15 species of sucking lice from seven families have been studied to date. These louse species have highly dynamic, fragmented mt genomes that differ in the number of minichromosomes, the gene content, and gene order in a minichromosome between families and even between species of the same genus.

Results In the present study, we analyzed the publicly available data to understand mt genome fragmentation in seal lice (family Echinophthiriidae) and gorilla louse, Pthirus gorillae (family Pthiridae), in particular the role of minichromosome split and minichromosome merger in the evolution of fragmented mt genomes. We show that 1) at least three ancestral mt minichromosomes of sucking lice have split in the lineage leading to seal lice, 2) one minichromosome ancestral to primate lice has split in the lineage to the gorilla louse, and 3) two ancestral minichromosomes of seal lice have merged in the lineage to the northern fur seal louse. Minichromosome split occurred 15-16 times in total in the lineages leading to species in six families of sucking lice investigated. In contrast, minichromosome merger occurred only four times in the lineages leading to species in three families of sucking lice. Further, three ancestral mt minichromosomes of sucking lice have split multiple times independently in different lineages of sucking lice. Our analyses of mt karyotypes and gene sequences also indicate the possibility of a host switch of crabeater seal louse to Weddell seals.

Conclusions We conclude that: 1) minichromosome split contributes more than minichromosome merger in mt genome fragmentation of sucking lice, and 2) mt karyotype comparison helps understand the phylogenetic relationships between sucking louse species.

}, keywords = {Gorilla louse, host switch, Mitochondrial minichromosomes, Seal lice, Split and merge}, issn = {1471-2164}, doi = {10.1186/s12864-022-08530-8}, url = {https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-022-08530-8}, author = {Yalun Dong and Min Zhao and Renfu Shao} } @article {95579, title = {A new species of sucking louse (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Anoplura: Hoplopleuridae) from the pale field rat, Rattus tunneyi (Rodentia: Muridae), in Australia}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {5091}, year = {2022}, month = {Jan-14-2022}, pages = {85-94}, abstract = {

We describe and illustrate a new species of sucking louse, Hoplopleura tunneya new species, from the Australian pale field rat, Rattus tunneyi Thomas (Rodentia: Muridae). Currently, 22 species of the genus Hoplopleura Enderlein, 1904 (Phthiraptera: Anoplura: Hoplopleuridae) are known from Australian endemic rodents. Among the seven \“new endemic\” rodent species of the genus Rattus in Australia, R. tunneyi is one of five hosts to Hoplopleura lice. In addition, we give a list of all the species of Hoplopleura known from Australian endemic rodents. Including the introduced species Polyplax spinulosa, the total number of sucking louse species known from Australian endemic rodents is now 24. \ 

}, keywords = {endemic Australian rodents, Hoplopleura tunneya, new species}, issn = {1175-5334, 1175-5326}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5091.3.7}, url = {https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.5091.3.7}, author = {Wei Wang and Lance A. Durden and Renfu Shao} } @article {95498, title = {Corrigendum to {\textquoteleft}Fragmented mitochondrial genomes evolved in opposite directions between closely related macaque louse Pedicinus obtusus and colobus louse Pedicinus badii{\textquoteright}}, journal = {Genomics}, volume = {113}, year = {2021}, month = {Mar-2021}, pages = {727}, abstract = {

The authors regret:

This article contains an error in Fig. 3. The orientation of nad1 should be clockwise. See a corrected Fig. 3 below. As a consequence, nad1 should be clockwise in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8B as well.

The original article can be view from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0888754320310491?via\%3Dihub

See also https://phthiraptera.myspecies.info/node/95497

}, issn = {0888-7543}, doi = {10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.01.015}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0888754321000410?via\%3Dihub}, author = {Yi-Tian Fu and Yalun Dong and Wei Wang and Yu Nie and Guo-Hua Liu and Renfu Shao} } @article {95497, title = {Fragmented mitochondrial genomes evolved in opposite directions between closely related macaque louse Pedicinus obtusus and colobus louse Pedicinus badii}, journal = {Genomics}, volume = {112}, year = {2020}, month = {Nov-2020}, pages = {4924-4933}, abstract = {

We report for the first time the fragmented mitochondrial (mt) genomes of two Pedicinus species: Pedicinus obtusus and Pedicinus badii, and compared them with the lice of humans and chimpanzees. Despite being congeneric, the two monkey lice are distinct from each other in mt karyotype. The variation in mt karyotype between the two Pedicinus lice is the most pronounced among the congeneric species of sucking lice observed to date and is attributable to the opposite directions between them in mt karyotype evolution. Two of the inferred ancestral mt minichromosomes of the higher primate lice merged as one in the macaque louse whereas one of the ancestral minichromosomes split into two in the colobus louse after these two species diverged from their most recent common ancestor. Our results showed that mt genome fragmentation was a two-way process in the higher primate lice, and minichromosome merger was more common than previously thought.

Corrigendum to the article see https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0888754321000410?via\%3Dihub, and

https://phthiraptera.myspecies.info/node/95498

}, issn = {0888-7543}, doi = {10.1016/j.ygeno.2020.09.005}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0888754320310491?via\%3Dihub}, author = {Yi-Tian Fu and Yalun Dong and Wei Wang and Yu Nie and Guo-Hua Liu and Renfu Shao} } @article {95363, title = {Two New Species of Sucking Lice (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) from Chestnut Mice, Pseudomys gracilicaudatus and Pseudomys nanus (Rodentia: Muridae), in Australia}, journal = {Journal of Medical Entomology}, volume = {58}, year = {2021}, month = {02-2021}, pages = {1157-1165}, type = {Advance Article}, abstract = {

We describe two new species of sucking lice in the genus Hoplopleura Enderlein, 1904 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) from Australia: Hoplopleura gracilicaudatusa n. sp. from the eastern chestnut mouse Pseudomys gracilicaudatus (Gould) (Rodentia: Muridae), and Hoplopleura nanusa n. sp. from the western chestnut mouse Pseudomys nanus (Gould) (Rodentia: Muridae). Pseudomys Gray is the most speciose genus of rodents endemic to Australia with 24 species; however, only two Pseudomys species have been reported previously to be hosts of sucking lice. The description of the new species in the present study doubles the number of sucking louse species known to parasitize Pseudomys mice and increases the total number of sucking louse species known from endemic Australian rodents from 21 to 23. Pseudomys gracilicaudatus and P. nanus are closely related murines that diverged ~1 MYA with distinct and widely separated extant geographic distributions. The two new Hoplopleura species described in the present study share some morphological characters and likely co-evolved and co-speciated with their chestnut mouse hosts.

Attachment 95363 pre print version

}, keywords = {Hoplopleura gracilicaudatusa n. sp., Hoplopleura nanusa Wang n. sp., new species, Old Endemic Australian rodents}, issn = {0022-2585}, doi = {10.1093/jme/tjaa289}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/jme/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jme/tjaa289/6133203}, author = {Wei Wang and Lance A. Durden and Renfu Shao} } @article {95193, title = {Eight New Species of Sucking Lice (Psocodea: Phthiraptera) From Endemic Murine Rodents in Australia and an Updated Identification Key}, journal = {Journal of Medical Entomology}, volume = {58}, year = {2021}, month = {01-2021}, pages = {298-319}, type = {Published version. Advance access published on Nov. 2020.}, abstract = {

Based on a comprehensive study of museum specimens, eight new species of sucking lice of the genus Hoplopleura Enderlein, 1904 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae), are described from six genera of Australian Old Endemic rodents: Conilurus Ogilby, 1838 (Rodentia: Muridae), Leggadina Thomas, 1910 (Rodentia: Muridae), Leporillus Thomas, 1906 (Rodentia: Muridae), Mesembriomys Palmer, 1906 (Rodentia: Muridae), Pogonomys Milne-Edwards, 1877 (Rodentia: Muridae), and Xeromys Thomas, 1889 (Rodentia: Muridae). The description of these new species increases the number of sucking louse species from endemic Australian rodents from 13 to 21 and extends the records of sucking lice to all of the 14 genera of endemic rodents in Australia. Our results show that sucking lice are much more diverse among rodents in Australia than previously known. Furthermore, the Australian Hoplopleura species are host specific\—each Hoplopleura species, including the eight new species described in the present study, parasitizes only a single host species, except Hoplopleura irritans Kuhn and Ludwig, 1967 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) and Hoplopleura melomydis Weaver, 2017 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae), each of which is found on two host species. An updated dichotomous key for identifying Australian Hoplopleura species is included.

}, keywords = {endemic murine rodents, Hoplopleura conilurudis, Hoplopleura leggadinadis, Hoplopleura leporilludis, Hoplopleura macrurusa, Hoplopleura mesembriomydis, Hoplopleura pogonomydis, Hoplopleura xeromydis, identification key, new species}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa206}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/jme/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jme/tjaa206/5962924}, author = {Wei Wang and Lance A. Durden and Weaver,Haylee J. and Renfu Shao} } @article {94955, title = {Rapid host expansion of an introduced parasite, the spiny rat louse Polyplax spinulosa (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Polyplacidae), among endemic rodents in Australia}, journal = {Parasites \& Vectors}, volume = {13}, year = {2020}, month = {Feb-2020}, pages = {15 pp}, type = {Research Paper}, abstract = {

Background: Historical European exploration and colonization resulted in the introduction of four species of rodents to the Australian continent from Eurasia: the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, the black rat, R. rattus, the Pacific rat, R. exulans, and the house mouse, Mus musculus. The spread of these rodents created opportunities for their co-introduced sucking lice to parasitize and adapt to endemic rodents in Australia.
Methods: We collected sucking lice from rodent specimens in seven museums across Australia. We\  identified the spiny rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa, based on morphology. We sequenced the mitochondrial cox1 and rrnL genes of P. spinulosa specimens and constructed a phylogenetic tree with rrnL sequences.
Results: We examined 989 rodent specimens of 54 species and collected 2111 adult sucking lice and 1064 nymphal sucking lice. We found that P. spinulosa had nearly doubled its host range by parasitizing at least six endemic rodent species in Australia. The other two introduced lice, P. serrata and Hoplopleura pacifica, however, have apparently failed to expand to any endemic rodents in Australia. Our analysis of mitochondrial rrnL gene sequences divided P. spinulosa into two genotypes (European vs Southeast Asian), which differ by 7.5\%; both genotypes were introduced into Australia and then expanded their host ranges to include endemic rodents.
Conclusions: The earliest record of a European ship landing in Australia was in 1606, followed by British settlement in 1788. The expansion of P. spinulosa to at least six endemic rodent species in Australia has therefore occurred in the time frame of 200 to 400 years, which is extremely rapid relative to its host expansion to eight native rat species in Eurasia in ~ 16 million years since it diverged from P. serrata. The host expansion of P. spinulosa is remarkable for a blood-sucking louse and is in stark contrast to the absence of host expansion by P. serrata and H. pacifica. Comparison among these three introduced sucking lice indicated that both louse-specific factors and host-specific factors can contribute to the success or failure of host expansion.

}, keywords = {host-parasite relationships, Invasive species, Psocodea, rodents, sucking lice}, doi = {10.1186/s13071-020-3957-y}, url = {https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-3957-y}, author = {Wei Wang and Lance A. Durden and Renfu Shao} } @article {94795, title = {Fragmented mitochondrial genomes of the rat lice, Polyplax asiatica and Polyplax spinulosa: intra-genus variation in fragmentation pattern and a possible link between the extent of fragmentation and the length of life cycle}, journal = {BMC Genomics}, volume = {15}, year = {2014}, month = {01-2014}, pages = {44}, abstract = {

Background: Blood-sucking lice (suborder Anoplura) parasitize eutherian mammals with 67\% of the 540 described species found on rodents. The five species of blood-sucking lice that infest humans and pigs have fragmented mitochondrial genomes and differ substantially in the extent of fragmentation. To understand whether, or not,
any life-history factors are linked to such variation, we sequenced the mt genomes of Polyplax asiatica and Polyplax spinulosa, collected from the greater bandicoot rat, Bandicota indica, and the Asian house rat, Rattus tanezumi, respectively.
Results: We identified all of the 37 mitochondrial genes common to animals in Polyplax asiatica and Polyplax spinulosa. The mitochondrial genes of these two rat lice are on 11 circular minichromosomes; each minichromosome is 2\–4 kb long and has 2\–7 genes. The two rat lice share the same pattern for the distribution of the protein-coding genes and ribosomal RNA genes over the minichromosomes, but differ in the pattern for the distribution of 8 of the 22 transfer RNA genes. The mitochondrial genomes of the Polyplax rat lice have 3.4 genes, on average, on each minichromosome and, thus, are less fragmented than those of the human lice (2.1 and 2.4 genes per minichromosome), but are more fragmented than those of the pig lice (4.1 genes per minichromosome).
Conclusions: Our results revealed distinct patterns of mitochondrial genome fragmentation within the genus Polyplax and, furthermore, indicated a possible inverse link between the extent of mitochondrial genome fragmentation and the length of life cycle of the blood-sucking lice.

}, keywords = {Chromosome evolution, genome fragmentation, minichromosome, Mitochondrial genome, sucking lice}, issn = {1471-2164}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2164-15-44}, url = {http://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-15-44}, author = {Dong,Wen-ge and Simon Song and Dao-chao Jin and Guo,Xian-guo and Renfu Shao} } @article {94794, title = {Fragmented mitochondrial genomes are present in both major clades of the blood-sucking lice (suborder Anoplura): evidence from two Hoplopleura rodent lice (family Hoplopleuridae)}, journal = {BMC Genomics}, volume = {15}, year = {2014}, month = {Sept-2014}, pages = {13 pp}, abstract = {

Background: The suborder Anoplura contains 540 species of blood-sucking lice that parasitize over 840 species of eutherian mammals. Fragmented mitochondrial (mt) genomes have been found in the lice of humans, pigs, horses and rats from four families: Pediculidae, Pthiridae, Haematopinidae and Polyplacidae. These lice, eight species in total, are from the same major clade of the Anoplura. The mt genomes of these lice consist of 9\–20 minichromosomes; each minichromosome is 1.5\–4 kb in size and has 1\–8 genes. To understand mt genome fragmentation in the other major clade of the Anoplura, we sequenced the mt genomes of two species of rodent lice in the genus Hoplopleura (family Hoplopleuridae).
Results: We identified 28 mt genes on 10 minichromosomes in the mouse louse, Ho. akanezumi; each minichromosome is 1.7\–2.7 kb long and has 1\–6 genes. We identified 34 mt genes on 11 minichromosomes in the rat louse, Ho. kitti; each minichromosome is 1.8\–2.8 kb long and has 1\–5 genes. Ho. akanezumi also has a chimeric minichromosome with parts of two rRNA genes and a full-length tRNA gene for tyrosine. These two rodent lice share the same pattern for the distribution of all of the protein-coding and rRNA genes but differ in tRNA gene content and gene arrangement in four minichromosomes. Like the four genera of blood-sucking lice that have been investigated in previous studies, the Hoplopleura species have four minichromosomes that are only found in this genus.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that fragmented mt genomes were present in the most recent common ancestor of the two major clades of the blood-sucking lice, which lived ~75 million years ago. Intra-genus variation in the pattern of mt genome fragmentation is common in the blood-sucking lice (suborder Anoplura) and genus- specific minichromosomes are potential synapomorphies. Future studies should expand into more species, genera and families of blood-sucking lice to explore further the phylogenetic utility of the novel features associated with fragmented mt genomes.

}, keywords = {Chromosome evolution, genome fragmentation, minichromosome, Mitochondrial genome, sucking lice}, issn = {1471-2164}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2164-15-751}, url = {http://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-15-751}, author = {Dong,Wen-ge and Simon Song and Guo,Xian-guo and Dao-chao Jin and Qianqian Yang and Stephen C. Barker and Renfu Shao} } @article {94793, title = {Understanding mitochondrial genome fragmentation in parasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera)}, journal = {Hereditas (Beijing)}, volume = {35}, year = {2013}, pages = {847 - 855}, abstract = {

Paper written in Chinese, Title:\ 虱 目裂 化 线 粒 体 基 因组 研 究 进 展

Abstract: Lice are obligateectoparasites of mammals and birds. Extensiver fagmentation of mitochondrial genomes has been found in some louse \ species in the families Pediculidae,Pthiridae,Philopteridae and Trichodectidae. For example, the\ mt genomes of human body louse ( Pediculus humanus), head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis), and pubic louse (Pthirus pubis) have 20, 20 and 14 mini-chromosomes,respectively.These mini-chromosomes might be the results of deletion and\ recombination of mt genes .The factors and mechanism s of mitochondrial genome fragmentation are currently unknown. The fragmentation might be the results of evolutionary selection or random genetic drift or it is probably related to the lack of mtSSB (mitochondrial single-strand DNA binding protein).Understanding the fragmentation of mitochondrial genomes is \ of significance for understanding the origin and evolution of mitochondria. This paper reviews the recent advances in the studies of mitochondrial genome fragmentation in lice, including the phenomena of mitochrondrial genome fragmentation, characteristics of fragmentated mitochondrial genomes, and some factors and mechanism possibly leading to the mitochondrial genome fragmentation of lice.Perspectives for future studies on fragmented mt genomes arealso discussed.

}, keywords = {Chromosome evolution, genome fragmentation, Mitochondrial genome}, issn = {0253-9772}, doi = {10.3724/SP.J.1005.2013.00847}, url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249321853_Understanding_mitochondrial_genome_fragmentation_in_parasitic_lice_Insecta_Phthiraptera}, author = {Dong,Wen-ge and Guo,Xian-guo and Dao-chao Jin and Shi-peng Xue and Simon Song and Stephen C. Barker and Renfu Shao} } @article {94522, title = {Mitochondrial Genome Fragmentation Unites the Parasitic Lice of Eutherian Mammals}, journal = {Systematic Biology}, year = {2019}, pages = {1-11}, abstract = {

Abstract.\—Organelle genome fragmentation has been found in a wide range of eukaryotic lineages; however, its use in phylogenetic reconstruction has not been demonstrated. We explored the use of mitochondrial (mt) genome fragmentation in resolving the controversial suborder-level phylogeny of parasitic lice (order Phthiraptera). There are approximately 5000 species of parasitic lice in four suborders (Amblycera, Ischnocera, Rhynchophthirina, and Anoplura), which infest mammals and birds. The phylogenetic relationships among these suborders are unresolved despite decades of studies. We sequenced the mt genomes of eight species of parasitic lice and compared them with 17 other species of parasitic lice sequenced previously. We found that the typical single-chromosome mt genome is retained in the lice of birds but fragmented into many minichromosomes in the lice of eutherian mammals. The shared derived feature of mt genome fragmentation unites the eutherian mammal lice of Ischnocera (family Trichodectidae) with Anoplura and Rhynchophthirina to the exclusion of the bird lice of Ischnocera (family Philopteridae). The novel clade, namely Mitodivisia, is also supported by phylogenetic analysis of mt genome and cox1 gene sequences. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that organelle genome fragmentation is informative for resolving controversial high-level phylogenies.

}, keywords = {genome fragmentation, Mitochondrial genome, Parasitic lice, Phylogeny}, issn = {1063-5157}, doi = {10.1093/sysbio/syy062}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syy062/5098615}, author = {Fan Song and Hu Li and Guo-Hua Liu and Wei Wang and Peter J. James and Douglas D. Colwell and Anette Tran and Siyu Gong and Wanzhi Cai and Renfu Shao}, editor = {Brian Wiegmann} } @article {94452, title = {A new species of sucking louse Hoplopleura villosissima n. sp. (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) and a new host record of the spiny rat louse Polyplax spinulosa Burmeister, 1839 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Polyplacidae) from the long-haired rat Rattus}, journal = {Parasites \& Vectors}, volume = {11}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-12-2018}, pages = {8pp}, chapter = {476}, abstract = {

Full title : A new species of sucking louse Hoplopleura villosissima n. sp. (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) and a new host record of the spiny rat louse Polyplax spinulosa Burmeister, 1839 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Polyplacidae) from the long-haired rat Rattus villosissimus Waite (Rodentia: Muridae) in Australia

Background: The sucking louse fauna of endemic Australian rodents has been under-studied for decades. Sixty-five species of native rodents have been recorded in Australia. However, only 11 species of lice have been reported from 11 species of endemic Australian rodents.

Results: We describe a new species of sucking louse, Hoplopleura villosissima Wang (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae), and report a new host record of the spiny rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa Burmeister, 1839 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Polyplacidae), from the long-haired rat, Rattus villosissimus Waite (Rodentia: Muridae), which is endemic to Australia.

Conclusions: This study is the first record of sucking louse from R. villosissimus and the first record of a species of Polyplax Enderlein, 1904 from an endemic Australian rodent. This study brings the total number of sucking louse species in endemic Australian rodents from 11 to 13. Previously, only the introduced brown rat, Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout and the black rat, Rattus rattus Linnaeus were recorded as the hosts of P. spinulosa in Australia. Because R. villosissimus overlaps with R. rattus in distribution but not with R. norvegicus, we propose that P. spinulosa transferred to R. villosissimus from R. rattus.

}, keywords = {new species, Psocodea}, doi = {10.1186/s13071-018-3037-8}, url = {https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-018-3037-8}, author = {Wei Wang and Weaver,Haylee J. and Fan Song and Lance A. Durden and Renfu Shao} } @article {94401, title = {The Mitochondrial Genome of the Guanaco Louse, Microthoracius praelongiceps: Insights into the Ancestral Mitochondrial Karyotype of Sucking Lice (Anoplura, Insecta)}, journal = {Genome Biology and Evolution}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {Mar-23-2017}, pages = {431 - 445}, abstract = {

Fragmented mitochondrial (mt) genomes have been reported in 11 species of sucking lice (suborder Anoplura) that infest humans, chimpanzees, pigs, horses, and rodents. There is substantial variation among these lice in mt karyotype: the number of minichromosomes of a species ranges from 9 to 20; the number of genes in a minichromosome ranges from 1 to 8; gene arrangement in a minichromosome differs between species, even in the same genus. We sequenced the mt genome of the guanaco louse, Microthoracius praelongiceps, to help establish the ancestral mt karyotype for sucking lice and understand how fragmented mt genomes evolved. The guanaco louse has 12 mt minichromosomes; each minichromosome has 2\–5 genes and a non-coding region. The guanaco louse shares many features with rodent lice in mt karyotype, more than with other sucking lice. The guanaco louse, however, is more closely related phylogenetically to human lice, chimpanzee lice, pig lice, and horse lice than to rodent lice. By parsimony analysis of shared features in mt karyotype, we infer that the most recent common ancestor of sucking lice, which lived ~75 Ma, had 11 minichromosomes; each minichromosome had 1\–6 genes and a non-coding region. As sucking lice diverged, split of mt minichromosomes occurred many times in the lineages leading to the lice of humans, chimpanzees, and rodents whereas merger of minichromosomes occurred in the lineage leading to the lice of pigs and horses. Together, splits and mergers of minichromosomes created a very complex and dynamic mt genome organization in the sucking lice.

}, keywords = {genome fragmentation, guanaco, minichromosome, Mitochondrial genome, sucking lice.}, doi = {10.1093/gbe/evx007}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/gbe/evx007}, author = {Renfu Shao and Hu Li and Stephen C. Barker and Simon Song} } @article {94284, title = {Fragmented mitochondrial genomes in two suborders of parasitic lice of eutherian mammals (Anoplura and Rhynchophthirina, Insecta)}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {5}, year = {2015}, month = {Jun-15-2015}, pages = {11pp}, abstract = {

Parasitic lice (order Phthiraptera) infest birds and mammals. The typical animal mitochondrial (mt) genome organization, which consists of a single chromosome with 37 genes, was found in chewing lice in the suborders Amblycera and Ischnocera. The sucking lice (suborder Anoplura) known, however, have fragmented mt genomes with 9\–20 minichromosomes. We sequenced the mt genome of the elephant louse, Haematomyzus elephantis \– the first species of chewing lice investigated from the suborder Rhynchophthirina. We identified 33 mt genes in the elephant louse, which were on
10 minichromosomes. Each minichromosome is 3.5\–4.2 kb in size and has 2\–6 genes. Phylogenetic analyses of mt genome sequences confirm that the elephant louse is more closely related to sucking lice than to the chewing lice in the Amblycera and Ischnocera. Our results indicate that mt genome fragmentation is shared by the suborders Anoplura and Rhynchophthirina. Nine of the 10 mt minichromosomes of the elephant louse differ from those of the sucking lice (Anoplura) known in gene content and gene arrangement, indicating that distinct mt karyotypes have evolved in Anoplura and Rhynchophthirina since they diverged ~92 million years ago.

}, doi = {10.1038/srep17389}, url = {http://www.nature.com/articles/srep17389}, author = {Renfu Shao and Stephen C. Barker and Hu Li and Simon Song and Shree Kanta S. Poudel and Yuan Su} } @article {94262, title = {The Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I Gene Occurs on a Minichromosome with Extensive Heteroplasmy in Two Species of Chewing Lice, Geomydoecus aurei and Thomomydoecus minor}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, volume = {11}, year = {2016}, month = {Feb-09-2016}, pages = {e0162248}, abstract = {

In animals, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) typically occurs as a single circular chromosome with 13 protein-coding genes and 22 tRNA genes. The various species of lice examined previously, however, have shown mitochondrial genome rearrangements with a range

of chromosome sizes and numbers. Our research demonstrates that the mitochondrial genomes of two species of chewing lice found on pocket gophers, Geomydoecus aurei and Thomomydoecus minor, are fragmented with the 1,536 base-pair (bp) cytochrome-oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene occurring as the only protein-coding gene on a 1,916\–1,964 bp mini- circular chromosome in the two species, respectively. The cox1 gene of T. minor begins with an atypical start codon, while that of G. aurei does not. Components of the non-protein coding sequence of G. aurei and T. minor include a tRNA (isoleucine) gene, inverted repeat sequences consistent with origins of replication, and an additional non-coding region that is smaller than the non-coding sequence of other lice with such fragmented mitochondrial genomes. Sequences of cox1 minichromosome clones for each species reveal extensive length and sequence heteroplasmy in both coding and noncoding regions. The highly vari- able non-gene regions of G. aurei and T. minor have little sequence similarity with one another except for a 19-bp region of phylogenetically conserved sequence with unknown function.

}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0162248}, url = {http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162248}, author = {Pietan, Lucas L. and Theresa A. Spradling and James W. Demastes}, editor = {Renfu Shao} } @article {68760, title = {Chimeric mitochondrial minichromosomes of the human body louse, Pediculus humanus: Evidence for homologous and non-homologous recombination}, journal = {Gene}, volume = {473}, year = {2011}, month = {Jan-02-2011}, pages = {36 - 43}, abstract = {

The mitochondrial (mt) genome of the human body louse, Pediculus humanus, consists of 18 minichromo-
somes. Each minichromosome is 3 to 4 kb long and has 1 to 3 genes. There is unequivocal evidence for
recombination between different mt minichromosomes in P. humanus. It is not known, however, how these
minichromosomes recombine. Here, we report the discovery of eight chimeric mt minichromosomes in P.
humanus. We classify these chimeric mt minichromosomes into two groups: Group I and Group II. Group I
chimeric minichromosomes contain parts of two different protein-coding genes that are from different
minichromosomes. The two parts of protein-coding genes in each Group I chimeric minichromosome are
joined at a microhomologous nucleotide sequence; microhomologous nucleotide sequences are hallmarks of
non-homologous recombination. Group II chimeric minichromosomes contain all of the genes and the non-
coding regions of two different minichromosomes. The conserved sequence blocks in the non-coding regions
of Group II chimeric minichromosomes resemble the \“recombination repeats\” in the non-coding regions of
the mt genomes of higher plants. These repeats are essential to homologous recombination in higher plants.
Our analyses of the nucleotide sequences of chimeric mt minichromosomes indicate both homologous and
non-homologous recombination between minichromosomes in the mitochondria of the human body louse.

\© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All right

}, keywords = {Chimeric molecule, Chromosome evolution, Human body louse, Microhomology, Mitochondrial genome, mtDNA recombination}, issn = {03781119}, doi = {10.1016/j.gene.2010.11.002}, url = {http://phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/68760.pdf}, author = {Renfu Shao and Stephen C. Barker} } @article {48446, title = {The single mitochondrial chromosome typical of animals has evolved into 18 minichromosomes in the human body louse, Pediculus humanus}, journal = {Genome Research}, volume = {19}, year = {2009}, month = {2009}, pages = {904 - 912}, abstract = {The mitochondrial (mt) genomes of animals typically consist of a single circular chromosome that is \~{}16-kb long and has 37 genes. Our analyses of the sequence reads from the Human Body Louse Genome Project and the patterns of gel electrophoresis and Southern hybridization revealed a novel type of mt genome in the sucking louse, Pediculus humanus. Instead of having all mt genes on a single chromosome, the 37 mt genes of this louse are on 18 minicircular chromosomes. Each minicircular chromosome is 3{\textendash}4 kb long and has one to three genes. Minicircular mt chromosomes are also present in the four other species of sucking lice that we investigated, but not in chewing lice nor in the Psocoptera, to which sucking lice are most closely related. We also report unequivocal evidence for recombination between minicircular mt chromosomes in P. humanus and for sequence variation in mt genes generated by recombination. The advantages of a fragmented mt genome, if any, are currently unknown. Fragmentation of mt genome, however, has coevolved with blood feeding in the sucking lice. It will be of interest to explore whether or not life history features are associated with the evolution of fragmented chromosomes.}, author = {Renfu Shao and Kirkness,Ewen F. and Stephen C. Barker} } @article {47092, title = {Extraordinary number of gene rearrangements in the mitochondrial genomes of lice (Phthiraptera: Insecta)}, journal = {Insect Molecular Biology}, volume = {15}, year = {2006}, month = {2006}, pages = {63 - 68}, publisher = {Blackwell Publishing}, abstract = {

The arrangement of genes in the mitochondrial (mt) genomes of most insects is the same, or near-identical, to that inferred to be ancestral for insects. We sequenced the entire mt genome of the small pigeon louse, Campanulotes bidentatus compar, and part of the mt genomes of nine other species of lice. These species were from six families and the three main suborders of the order Phthiraptera. There was no variation in gene arrangement among species within a family but there was much variation in gene arrangement among the three suborders of lice. There has been an extraordinary number of gene rearrangements in the mitochondrial genomes of lice!

}, keywords = {Amblycera, Anoplura, Campanulotes, mtDNA}, url = {http://www.phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/46197.pdf}, author = {Covacin,C. and Renfu Shao and Stephen L. Cameron and Stephen C. Barker} } @article {40420, title = {Increased rate of gene rearrangement in the mitochondrial genomes of three orders of hemipteroid insects}, journal = {Molecular Biology and Evolution}, volume = {18}, year = {2001}, note = {466DU MOL BIOL EVOL}, month = {2001}, pages = {1828 - 1832}, url = {http://www.phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/3199.pdf}, author = {Renfu Shao and Campbell,N. J. H. and Schmidt,E. R. and Stephen C. Barker} } @article {39810, title = {Numerous gene rearrangements in the mitochondrial genome of the wallaby louse, Heterodoxus macropus (Phthiraptera)}, journal = {Molecular Biology and Evolution}, volume = {18}, year = {2001}, note = {427WA MOL BIOL EVOL}, month = {2001}, pages = {858 - 865}, abstract = {

The complete arrangement of genes in the mitochondrial (mt) genome is known for 12 species of insects, and part of the gene arrangement in the mt genome is known for over 300 other species of insects. The arrangement of genes in the mt genome is very conserved in insects studied, since all of the protein-coding and rRNA genes and most of the tRNA genes are arranged in the same way. We sequenced the entire mt genome of the wallaby louse, Heterodoxus macropus, which is 14,670 bp long and has the 37 genes typical of animals and some noncoding regions. The largest noncoding region is 73 bp long (93\% A+T), and the second largest is 47 bp long (92\% A+T). Both of these noncoding regions seem to be able to form stem-loop structures. The arrangement of genes in the mt genome of this louse is unlike that of any other animal studied. All tRNA genes have moved and/or inverted relative to the ancestral gene arrangement of insects, which is present in the fruit fly Drosophila yakuba. At least nine protein-coding genes (atp6, atp8, cox2, cob, nad1-nad3, nad5, and nad6) have moved; moreover, four of these genes (atp6, atp8, nad1, and nad3) have inverted. The large number of gene rearrangements in the mt genome of H. macropus is unprecedented for an arthropod.

}, keywords = {Heterodoxus, molecular}, url = {http://www.phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/2268.pdf}, author = {Renfu Shao and Campbell,N. J. H. and Stephen C. Barker} }