1. Does host socio-spatial behavior lead to a fine-scale spatial genetic structure in its associated parasites?
- Author
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Portanier Elodie, Garel Mathieu, Devillard Sébastien, Duhayer Jeanne, Poirel Marie-Thérèse, Henri Hélène, Régis Corinne, Maillard Daniel, Redman Elizabeth, Itty Christian, Michel Patricia, and Bourgoin Gilles
- Subjects
ovis gmelini musimon × ovis sp. ,host-parasite co-structure ,population genetics ,nematode ,mouflon ,haemonchus contortus ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 - Abstract
Gastro-intestinal nematodes, especially Haemonchus contortus, are widespread pathogenic parasites of small ruminants. Studying their spatial genetic structure is as important as studying host genetic structure to fully understand host-parasite interactions and transmission patterns. For parasites having a simple life cycle (e.g., monoxenous parasites), gene flow and spatial genetic structure are expected to strongly rely on the socio-spatial behavior of their hosts. Based on five microsatellite loci, we tested this hypothesis for H. contortus sampled in a wild Mediterranean mouflon population (Ovis gmelini musimon × Ovis sp.) in which species- and environment-related characteristics have been found to generate socio-spatial units. We nevertheless found that their parasites had no spatial genetic structure, suggesting that mouflon behavior was not enough to limit parasite dispersal in this study area and/or that other ecological and biological factors were involved in this process, for example other hosts, the parasite life cycle, or the study area history.
- Published
- 2019
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