@article {96416, title = {Lightella neohaematopini: A new lineage of highly reduced endosymbionts coevolving with chipmunk lice of the genus Neohaematopinus}, journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology}, volume = {13}, year = {2022}, month = {Aug-01-2022}, pages = {16 pp}, type = {Part of a research topic}, abstract = {

Sucking lice (Anoplura) are known to have established symbiotic associations multiple times with different groups of bacteria as diverse as Enterobacteriales, Legionellales, and Neisseriales. This diversity, together with absence of a common coevolving symbiont (such as Buchnera, in aphids), indicates that sucking lice underwent a series of symbiont acquisitions, losses, and replacements. To better understand evolution and significance of louse symbionts, genomic and phylogenetic data are needed from a broader taxonomic diversity of lice and their symbiotic bacteria. In this study, we extend the known spectrum of the louse symbionts with a new lineage associated with Neohaematopinus pacificus, a louse species that commonly parasitizes North American chipmunks. The recent coevolutionary analysis showed that rather than a single species, these lice form a cluster of unique phylogenetic lineages specific to separate chipmunk species (or group of closely related species). Using metagenomic assemblies, we show that the lice harbor a bacterium which mirrors their phylogeny and displays traits typical for obligate mutualists. Phylogenetic analyses place this bacterium within Enterobacteriaceae on a long branch related to another louse symbiont, \“Candidatus Puchtella pedicinophila.\” We propose for this symbiotic lineage the name \“Candidatus Lightella neohaematopini.\” Based on the reconstruction of metabolic pathways, we suggest that like other louse symbionts, L. neohaematopini provides its host with at least some B vitamins. In addition, several samples harbored another symbiotic bacterium phylogenetically affiliated with the Neisseriales-related symbionts described previously from the lice Polyplax serrata and Hoplopleura acanthopus. Characterizing these bacteria further extend the known diversity of the symbiotic associations in lice and show unique complexity and dynamics of the system.

}, keywords = {coevolution, genome evolution, insect symbionts, lice, symbiosis}, issn = {1664-302X}, doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2022.900312}, url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.900312/full}, author = {Jana {\v R}{\'\i}hov{\'a} and Kayce C. Bell and Eva Nov{\'a}kov{\'a} and V{\'a}clav Hyp{\v s}a} } @article {95788, title = {Sucking Lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) Parasitizing Mongolian Rodents with the Description of a New Species of Hoplopleura from Mountain Voles (Alticola spp.)}, journal = {Journal of Parasitology}, volume = {108}, year = {2022}, month = {Aug-04-2022}, pages = {353-365}, abstract = {

The sucking louse fauna associated with Mongolian mammals is inadequately known. We provide a list of 25 species of sucking lice recorded from Mongolian rodents including previously published records, and new records of specimens collected during an expedition to northwestern Mongolia in 2015. Hoplopleura inagakii Ono and Hasegawa and Polyplax cricetulis Chin are newly recorded from Mongolia and 2 new host associations in Mongolia are recorded for Hoplopleura acanthopus (Burmeister). We describe Hoplopleura altaiensis n. sp., from the Gobi Altai mountain vole, Alticola barakshin Bannikov (type host) with an additional specimen from Alticola strelzowi (Kastchenko) (Strelzow\&$\#$39;s mountain vole). Both sexes of the new species are illustrated with scanning electron micrographs and line drawings. We note small morphological differences in the shape of the female subgenital plate between specimens prepared for scanning electron microscopy versus those prepared for light microscopy following DNA extraction.

}, keywords = {Asia, Hoplopleura altaiensis n.sp, Mongolia, new species, Parasitic lice, Small mammals}, issn = {0022-3395}, doi = {10.1645/22-2}, url = {https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-parasitology/volume-108/issue-4/22-2/Sucking-Lice-Phthiraptera--Anoplura-Parasitizing-Mongolian-Rodents-with-the/10.1645/22-2.short}, author = {Lance A. Durden and Chase Robinson and Joseph A. Cook and Kayce C. Bell and Batsaikhan Nyamsuren and Stephen E. Greiman} } @article {95641, title = {A global parasite conservation plan}, journal = {Biological Conservation}, volume = {250}, year = {2020}, month = {Oct-01-2020}, pages = {12 pp}, abstract = {

Highlights

Found throughout the tree of life and in every ecosystem, parasites are some of the most diverse, ecologically important animals on Earth\—but in almost all cases, the least protected by wildlife or ecosystem conservation efforts. For decades, ecologists have been calling for research to understand parasites\&$\#$39; important ecological role, and increasingly, to protect as many species from extinction as possible. However, most conservationists still work within priority systems for funding and effort that exclude or ignore parasites, or treat parasites as an obstacle to be overcome. Our working group identified 12 goals for the next decade that could advance parasite biodiversity conservation through an ambitious mix of research, advocacy, and management.

}, keywords = {Biodiversity inventory, coextinction, Conservation prioritization, natural history collections, Red listing, Symbionts}, issn = {0006-3207}, doi = {10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108596}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320719319937}, author = {Colin J. Carlson and Skylar Hopkins and Kayce C. Bell and Jorge Do{\~n}a and Stephanie S Godfrey and Mackenzie Kwak and Lafferty,K. D. and Melinda L. Moir and Kelly A. Speer and Giovanni Strona and Mark Torchin and Chelsea L. Wood} } @article {95234, title = {Disentangling lousy relationships: Comparative phylogenomics of two sucking louse lineages parasitizing chipmunks}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {155}, year = {2020}, month = {10-2020}, pages = {11 pp}, abstract = {

The evolution of obligate parasites is often interpreted in light of their hosts\&$\#$39; evolutionary history. An expanded approach is to examine the histories of multiple lineages of parasites that inhabit similar environments on a particular host lineage. Western North American chipmunks (genus Tamias) have a broad distribution, a history of divergence with gene flow, and host two species of sucking lice (Anoplura), Hoplopleura arboricola and Neo-haematopinus pacificus. From total genomic sequencing, we obtained sequences of over 1100 loci sampled across the genomes of these lice to compare their evolutionary histories and examine the roles of host association in structuring louse relationships. Within each louse species, clades are largely associated with closely related chipmunk host species. Exceptions to this pattern appear to have a biogeographic component, but differ between the two louse species. Phylogenetic relationships among these major louse clades, in both species, are not congruent with chipmunk relationships. In the context of host associations, each louse lineage has a different evolutionary history, supporting the hypothesis that host-parasite assemblages vary both across the landscape and with the taxa under investigation. In addition, the louse Hoplopleura erratica (parasitizing the eastern Tamias striatus) is embedded within H. arboricola, rendering it paraphyletic. This phylogenetic result, together with comparable divergences within H. arboricola, indicate a need for taxonomic revision. Both host divergence and biogeographic components shape parasite diversification as demonstrated by the distinctive diversification patterns of these two independently evolving lineages that parasitize the same hosts.

}, keywords = {Chipmunks, lice, Phylogenomics}, issn = {10557903}, doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106998}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790320302700}, author = {Kayce C. Bell and Julie M. Allen and Kevin P. Johnson and John R. Demboski and Joseph A. Cook} } @article {94409, title = {Phylogenomics from Whole Genome Sequences Using aTRAM}, journal = {Systematic Biology}, volume = {66}, year = {2017}, month = {Jan-01-2019}, pages = {786-798}, abstract = {

Abstract.\—Novel sequencing technologies are rapidly expanding the size of data sets that can be applied to phylogenetic studies. Currently the most commonly used phylogenomic approaches involve some form of genome reduction. While these approaches make assembling phylogenomic data sets more economical for organisms with large genomes, they reduce the genomic coverage and thereby the long-term utility of the data. Currently, for organisms with moderate to small genomes (\<1000 Mbp) it is feasible to sequence the entire genome at modest coverage (10\−30\×). Computational challenges for handling these large data sets can be alleviated by assembling targeted reads, rather than assembling the entire genome, to produce a phylogenomic data matrix. Here we demonstrate the use of automated Target Restricted Assembly Method (aTRAM) to assemble 1107 single-copy ortholog genes from whole genome sequencing of sucking lice (Anoplura) and out-groups. We developed a pipeline to extract exon sequences from the aTRAM assemblies by annotating them with respect to the original target protein. We aligned these protein sequences with the inferred amino acids and then performed phylogenetic analyses on both the concatenated matrix of genes and on each gene separately in a coalescent analysis. Finally, we tested the limits of successful assembly in aTRAM by assembling 100 genes from close- to distantly related taxa at high to low levels of coverage.
Both the concatenated analysis and the coalescent-based analysis produced the same tree topology, which was consistent with previously published results and resolved weakly supported nodes. These results demonstrate that this approach is successful at developing phylogenomic data sets from raw genome sequencing reads. Further, we found that with coverages above 5\−10\×, aTRAM was successful at assembling 80\–90\% of the contigs for both close and distantly related taxa. As sequencing costs continue to decline, we expect full genome sequencing will become more feasible for a wider array of organisms, and aTRAM will enable mining of these genomic data sets for an extensive variety of applications, including phylogenomics.

}, keywords = {aTRAM; gene assembly; genome sequencing; phylogenomics.}, issn = {1063-5157}, doi = {10.1093/sysbio/syw105}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syw105}, author = {Julie M. Allen and Boyd, Bret M. and Nam-phuong Nguyen and Pranjal Vachaspati and Tandy Warnow and Huang, Daisie I and Patrick G.S. Grady and Kayce C. Bell and Cronk, Quentin C and Lawrence Mugisha and Barry R. Pittendrigh and Mar{\'\i}a Soledad Leonardi and David L. Reed and Kevin P. Johnson} }