Diversity and Eco-Evolutionary Associations of Endosymbiotic Astome Ciliates With Their Lumbricid Earthworm Hosts.

ABSTRACT: Coevolution of endosymbionts with their hosts plays an important role in the processes of speciation and is among the most fascinating topics in evolutionary biology. Astome ciliates represent an interesting model for coevolutionary studies because they are so tightly associated with their host organisms that they completely lost the cell oral apparatus. In the present study, we used five nuclear markers (18S rRNA gene, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region, and 28S rRNA gene) and two mitochondrial genes (16S rRNA gene and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) to explore the diversity of astomes inhabiting the digestive tract of lumbricid earthworms at temperate latitudes in Central Europe and to cast more light on their host specificity and coevolution events that shaped their diversification. The prese

SUBMITTER: Obert T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8250849 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature