DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Diversification and species delimitation in lizard malaria parasites

众所周知，疟原虫属的疟疾寄生虫会导致人类疾病，但在该属的大约200种寄生虫中，有一半以蜥蜴为脊椎动物宿主，其中许多物种可以在巴拿马的蜥蜴身上找到。这些寄生虫一直是生态学、流行病学和行为学研究的重点，但它们的分类学分类和多样化模式尚不清楚，这阻碍了它们作为疾病研究模型的使用。本研究的第一个目标是解决这些巴拿马寄生虫的分类问题。疟疾寄生虫的种类传统上是根据其形态的差异进行分类的，但是巴拿马疟原虫的简单和不断变化的形态已经使分类学家困惑了几十年。它们的分类学将通过使用新的物种划分方法分析遗传信息来进行修订。本研究的第二个目标是阐明广泛存在的蜥蜴寄生虫佛罗里达疟原虫的多样化模式。它分布在北美南部，整个加勒比地区和中美洲，但像大多数疟疾寄生虫一样，它的殖民历史仍然未知。从巴拿马新收集的样本将与以前从整个寄生虫收集的样本相结合。S范围，这些将用于阐明寄生虫？S模式的多样化。这项研究的结果将广泛传播，并用于促进教与学。课程材料将与美国自然历史博物馆（AMNH）的Gottesman中心合作开发，用于纽约市高中生物教室。讲座和实验室活动也将作为AMNH科研指导计划的一部分。两者都将向城市高中学生介绍来自生命之树的各种各样的寄生虫。最后，这项研究的结果将以若干条目的形式刊登在两个已建立并拥有广泛读者的博客上，以方便向公众传播研究结果。

Malaria parasites in the genus Plasmodium are well known as causing disease in humans, but half of the roughly 200 species in this genus use lizards as their vertebrate hosts, and many of these species can be found in lizards in Panama. These parasites have been the focus of studies on ecology, epidemiology, and behavior, but their taxonomic classifications and patterns of diversification remain unclear, and this has hindered their use as a model for studying disease. The first goal of this study is to resolve the taxonomy of these Panamanian parasites. Malaria parasite species are traditionally classified based on differences in their morphology, but the simple and changing morphology of the Panamanian species has confounded taxonomists for decades. Their taxonomy will be revised by analyzing genetic information using novel species-delimitation methods. The second goal of this study is to clarify the patterns of diversification in the widespread lizard parasite Plasmodium floridense. It is distributed in southern North America, throughout the Caribbean, and in Middle America, but like most malaria parasites, its history of colonization remains unknown. Newly collected samples from Panama will be combined with previously collected samples from across the parasite?s range, and these will be used to elucidate the parasite?s pattern of diversification. The results of this research will be disseminated broadly and used to promote teaching and learning. Curriculum materials will be developed in partnership with the Gottesman Center at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to be used in New York City high school biology classrooms. Lectures and laboratory activities will also be developed as part of the Science Research Mentoring Program at the AMNH. Both will introduce urban high school students to the vast diversity of parasite species from across the tree of life. Finally, results of this research will be posted over several entries on two blogs, each of which is well established and has a wide readership, to facilitate the dissemination of the research to the general public.