Global divergence of the human follicle mite Demodex folliculorum: Persistent associations between host ancestry and mite lineages.

ABSTRACT: Microscopic mites of the genus Demodex live within the hair follicles of mammals and are ubiquitous symbionts of humans, but little molecular work has been done to understand their genetic diversity or transmission. Here we sampled mite DNA from 70 human hosts of diverse geographic ancestries and analyzed 241 sequences from the mitochondrial genome of the species Demodex folliculorum. Phylogenetic analyses recovered multiple deep lineages including a globally distributed lineage common among hosts of European ancestry and three lineages that primarily include hosts of Asian, African, and Latin American ancestry. To a great extent, the ancestral geography of hosts predicted the lineages of mites found on them; 27% of the total molecular variance segregated according to the regional ancestri

SUBMITTER: Palopoli MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4703014 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature