Comparative cophylogenomics in a highly replicated system: Tinamou lice

该项目是由美国、巴西和秘鲁的几位鸟类学家和寄生虫学家合作开展的，目的是研究最古老的鸟类谱系之一——鸟羽虱及其极其多样化的寄生羽虱之间的家谱和相互作用。该团队将使用现代的下一代基因组测序方法来分析鸟类和寄生虫标本及其DNA，以重建这些古代鸟类和它们的寄生虫之间的谱系和关联历史。这种高度多样化的虫虱系统是研究广泛的重要模式和过程的模型，这些模式和过程对于理解寄生虫多样化和殖民到新宿主上的历史至关重要。因此，本项目分析的数据将填补我们对宿主-寄生虫相互作用基本原理的一般理解中的关键知识空白，因此对更好地理解控制人类寄生虫相互作用的基本生物学原理具有重要意义。本科生、研究生、一名博士后研究员和三名高中生将积极参与该项目，其中一些学员来自代表性不足的群体。项目参与者还将把高质量的博物馆标本和数据存入公开的博物馆收藏和数据库。最后，项目人员将与自然科学院公共教育和展览部门合作，参加公众宣传活动，并举办一个关于寄生虫多样性和进化的展览。本研究将利用下一代全基因组测序技术，收集拟鹧鸪9属47种及其羽虱18属（翅翅目：羽虱科）的DNA序列。在任何鸟类宿主群中发现的羽毛虱是最多样化的羽毛虱群落。然而，无论是丝状线虫还是它们的虱子都没有得到很好的研究，也没有完整的已发表的家谱可以用来重建它们的宿主-寄生虫相互作用的历史。这种寄主谱系上异常高的寄生虫多样性可能是古代历史的产物，为寄生虫的物种形成、定植和反向定植提供了广泛的时间。本项目旨在利用全基因组DNA序列数据重建翼虱及其羽虱的强大谱系，以解开其宿主-寄生虫关联的共同发育历史。项目计划包括四个主要目标：(1)重建天毛虱属的家谱，包括其他主要的羽毛虱谱系，以确定天毛虱是否作为一个整体彼此是最近的亲戚，以及在该虱群的多样化中，天毛虱与其他鸟类家族之间的宿主切换和回定殖是否普遍存在；(2)重建天马属植物系谱；(3)重建10个焦点属的毛羽虱种系；以及(4)对这些家谱和相关遗传数据进行分析，包括(a)将天麻虱的家谱与天麻虱宿主的系统发育进行比较，(b)比较天麻虱与其虱子之间的DNA变化率，以及(c)对宿主和寄生虫体型之间的相关性进行测试，这在文献中有很好的记录，但尚未得到很好的测试。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is a collaboration between several ornithologists and parasitologists in the USA, Brazil, and Peru to study the family tree and interactions between tinamous, one of the oldest avian lineages, and their extremely diverse parasitic feather lice. The team will use modern next generation genome sequencing approaches to analyze bird and parasite specimens and their DNA to reconstruct the genealogies and history of associations between these ancient birds and their parasites. This hyperdiverse tinamou-louse system is a model for studying broadly important patterns and processes that are critical for understanding parasite diversification and the history of colonization onto new hosts. Thus, the data analyzed for this project will fill critical knowledge gaps in our general understanding of the basic principles of host-parasite interactions and therefore has implications for better comprehension of the basic biological principles governing human parasite interactions. Undergraduate students, graduate students, a postdoctoral researcher, and three high school students will actively participate in the project and several of these trainees are from underrepresented groups. Project participants will also deposit high quality museum specimens and data into publicly available museum collections and databases. Lastly, project personnel will work with the Academy of Natural Sciences public education and exhibitions departments to participate in public outreach events and to develop an exhibit on parasite diversity and evolution.This study will use next generation whole genome sequencing to collect DNA sequences of 9 genera and 47 species of partridge-like tinamous and eighteen genera of their feather lice (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae). Tinamou feather lice are the most diverse community of feather lice found on any avian host group. However, neither tinamous nor their lice have been well studied and there are no complete published genealogies available to reconstruct the history of their host-parasite interactions over deep time scales. This exceptionally high parasite diversity on one host lineage may be a product of the ancient history of tinamous, providing extensive time for parasite speciation, colonization, and back colonization. This project aims to reconstruct robust genealogies of the tinamous and their feather lice using whole genome DNA sequence data to untangle the cophylogenetic history of their host-parasite associations. The project plan includes four major objectives: (1) reconstruct the genealogy of tinamou feather louse genera, including other major feather louse lineages, to determine whether tinamou feather lice as a whole are each other's closest relatives and whether host-switching and back colonization between tinamous and other avian families is prevalent in this louse group's diversification; (2) reconstruct a genealogy of tinamou species; (3) reconstruct genealogies of tinamou feather louse species from 10 focal genera; and (4) conduct analyses of these genealogies and associated genetic data including (a) a comparison of the genealogies of tinamou feather lice with the tinamou host phylogeny, (b) a comparison of the rates of DNA change between tinamous and their lice, and (c) a test for correlation between host and parasite body size, which is well documented in the literature but has not been well tested.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.