First molecular evidence of hybridization in endosymbiotic ciliates (Protista, Ciliophora).

ABSTRACT: Hybridization is an important evolutionary process that can fuel diversification via formation of hybrid species or can lead to fusion of previously separated lineages by forming highly diverse species complexes. We provide here the first molecular evidence of hybridization in wild populations of ciliates, a highly diverse group of free-living and symbiotic eukaryotic microbes. The impact of hybridization was studied on the model of Plagiotoma, an obligate endosymbiont of the digestive tube of earthworms, using split decomposition analyses and species networks, 2D modeling of the nuclear rRNA molecules and compensatory base change analyses as well as multidimensional morphometrics. Gene flow slowed down and eventually hampered the diversification of Lumbricus-dwelling

SUBMITTER: Obert T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9772525 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature