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The sympatric occurrence of two genetically divergent lineages of sucking louse, Polyplax arvicanthis (Phthiraptera: Anoplura), on the four-striped mouse genus, Rhabdomys (Rodentia: Muridae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2013

NINA DU TOIT
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
SONJA MATTHEE
Affiliation:
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
CONRAD A. MATTHEE*
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
*
* Corresponding author: Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa. Tel: +27218083957. Fax: +27218082405. E-mail: cam@sun.ac.za
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Summary

Within southern Africa, the widely distributed four-striped mouse genus (Rhabdomys) is parasitized by, amongst others, the specific ectoparasitic sucking louse, Polyplax arvicanthis. Given the presence of significant geographically structured genetic divergence in Rhabdomys, and the propensity of parasites to harbour cryptic diversity, the molecular systematics of P. arvicanthis was investigated. Representatives of P. arvicanthis were sampled from Rhabdomys at 16 localities throughout southern Africa. Parsimony and Bayesian gene trees were constructed for the mitochondrial COI, 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and nuclear CAD genes. Our findings support the existence of 2 genetic groups within P. arvicanthis separated by at least 25% COI sequence divergence, which is comparable to that observed among recognized Polyplax species. We therefore propose that these 2 genetic lineages probably represent distinct species and that the apparent absence of clear morphological differences may point to cryptic speciation. The 2 taxa have sympatric distributions throughout most of the sampled host range and also occasionally occur sympatrically on the same host individual. The co-occurrence of these genetically distinct lineages probably resulted from parasite duplication via host-associated allopatric divergence and subsequent reciprocal range expansions of the 2 parasite taxa throughout southern Africa.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Localities from which Polyplax arvicanthis were sampled, indicating areas of sympatric and allopatric occurrence of the 2 clades (P. arvicanthis 1 and 2), with locality codes as in Table 1. The inset represents the distribution of the different host species following Rambau et al. (2003) and du Toit et al. (2012).

Figure 1

Table 1. Geo-referenced localities and hosts from which Polyplax arvicanthis were collected

(The total number of hosts captured, number of host with lice, total number of lice collected, and the subsample of lice (specified in Table A1) used in subsequent analyses are indicated per sampled locality.)
Figure 2

Table 2. Primers used for PCR amplification of the various gene fragments

Figure 3

Table 3. The number of ingroup samples (N), amplified and final alignment length, polymorphic sites (P), and parsimony informative sites (PI) for each gene fragment

Figure 4

Table 4. GenBank Accession numbers for outgroup taxa used in the different gene analyses

Figure 5

Fig. 2. Consensus parsimony and Bayesian topology of the combined mtDNA dataset (posterior probabilities above and bootstraps below nodes), indicating the 2 clades within Polyplax arvicanthis.

Figure 6

Table 5. Bootstrap and posterior probability support values for the monophyly of Polyplax arvicanthis and the 2 clades therein resulting from the various single and combined gene analyses

Figure 7

Fig. 3. Bayesian COI topology indicating the phylogenetic position of the 2 clades within Polyplax arvicanthis with respect to other recognized Polyplax species (GenBank Accession numbers listed in Tables 4 and A4).

Figure 8

Table A1. COI haplotypes identified from the 299 Polyplax arvicanthis specimens sampled from 16 localities (codes as in Table 1)

(GenBank Accession numbers and haplotypes selected for the representative subset (sequenced for additional markers) are also indicated. Subscripts indicate P. arvicanthis clade 1 or 2.)
Figure 9

Table A2. GenBank Accession numbers for the gene sequences generated for the subset of specimens, with locality codes as in Table 1 and subscripts indicating P. arvicanthis clade 1 or 2

Figure 10

Table A3. GTR-corrected COI sequence distances among recognized Polyplax species, with GenBank Accession numbers

Figure 11

Table A4. Log10 Bayes Factors for alternative partitioning schemes (unpartitioned and partitioned by codon) of the protein coding COI and CAD genes

(Standard errors were estimated with 1000 bootstrap replicates.)
Figure 12

Fig. B1. Consensus Bayesian and Parsimony COI topology indicating the relationships among the 94 haplotypes within P. arvicanthis (codes as in Table 1). Posterior probabilities and bootstrap support values are indicated above and below nodes, respectively.