Demographic Expansions and the Emergence of Host Specialization in Genetically Distinct Ecotypes of the Tick-Transmitted Bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum.

ABSTRACT: In Europe, genetically distinct ecotypes of the tick-vectored bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum circulate among mammals in three discrete enzootic cycles. To date, potential ecological factors that contributed to the emergence of these divergent ecotypes have been poorly studied. Here, we show that the ecotype that predominantly infects roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is evolutionarily derived. Its divergence from a host generalist ancestor occurred after the last glacial maximum as mammal populations, including roe deer, recolonized the European mainland from southern refugia. We also provide evidence that this host specialist ecotype's effective population size (N_e) has tracked changes in the population of its roe deer host. Specifically, both host and bacterium have u

SUBMITTER: Aardema ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9317897 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature