Comparative cophylogenomics in a highly replicated system: Tinamou lice

这个项目是美国、巴西和秘鲁的几个鸟类学家和寄生虫学家之间的合作，研究最古老的鸟类谱系之一tinamous和它们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及其寄生虫之间的系谱和关联历史。这种高度多样的tinamou-louse系统是一个模型，广泛研究重要的模式和过程，是至关重要的了解寄生虫的多样化和殖民到新的主机的历史。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，因此对更好地理解人类寄生虫相互作用的基本生物学原理具有意义。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，其中几名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款公共博物馆收藏品和数据库。最后，项目人员将与自然科学院公共教育和展览部门合作，参与公共宣传活动，并开发一个关于寄生虫多样性和进化的展览。本研究将使用下一代全基因组测序技术收集9属47种鹧鸪样刺虱及其18属羽虱（Phthiraptera：Philopteridae）的DNA序列。Tinamou羽虱是在任何鸟类宿主群体上发现的最多样化的羽虱群落。然而，无论是tinamous还是他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重建他们的宿主-寄生虫相互作用的历史在深时间尺度。这种异常高的寄生虫多样性的一个主机谱系可能是一个产品的古老历史tinamous，提供了广泛的时间寄生虫物种形成，殖民化，并回殖民化。该项目的目的是重建强大的谱系tinamous和他们的羽毛虱子使用全基因组DNA序列数据解开他们的宿主-寄生虫协会的cophylogenetic历史。该项目计划包括四个主要目标：（1）重建tinamou羽虱属的谱系，包括其他主要羽虱谱系，以确定tinamou羽虱作为一个整体是否是彼此最近的亲属，以及tinamous和其他鸟类家庭之间的宿主转换和回殖民是否普遍存在于该虱群的多样化中;（2）重建tinamou物种的谱系;（3）重建了10个重点属的天蛾羽虱种的系谱;和（4）对这些系谱和相关的遗传数据进行分析，包括（a）比较tinamou羽虱的系谱和tinamou宿主的系谱，（B）比较tinamou和它们的虱之间的DNA变化率，和（c）测试宿主和寄生虫身体大小之间的相关性，该奖项反映了NSF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.