Functional Redundancy and Ecological Innovation Shape the Circulation of Tick-Transmitted Pathogens.

ABSTRACT: Ticks are vectors of pathogens affecting human and animal health worldwide. Nevertheless, the ecological and evolutionary interactions between ticks, hosts, and pathogens are largely unknown. Here, we integrated a framework to evaluate the associations of the tick Ixodes ricinus with its hosts and environmental niches that impact pathogen circulation. The analysis of tick-hosts association suggested that mammals and lizards were the ancestral hosts of this tick species, and that a leap to Aves occurred around 120 M years ago. The signature of the environmental variables over the host's phylogeny revealed the existence of two clades of vertebrates diverging along a temperature and vegetation split. This is a robust proof that the tick probably experienced a colonization of new niches

SUBMITTER: Estrada-Pena A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5450623 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature