Abstract

In host-symbiont systems, interspecific transmissions create opportunities for host switches, potentially leading to cophylogenetic incongruence. In contrast, conspecific transmissions often result in high host specificity and congruent cophylogenies. In most bird-feather mite systems, conspecific transmission is considered dominant, while interspecific transmission is supposedly rare. However, while mites typically maintain high host specificity, incongruent cophylogenies are common. To explain this conundrum, we quantify the magnitude of conspecific vs. interspecific transmission in the brood parasitic shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). M. bonariensis lacks parental care, allowing the assessment of the role of horizontal transmission alone in maintaining host specificity. We found that despite frequent interspecific interactions via foster parental care, mite species dispersing via conspecific horizontal contacts are three times more likely to colonize M. bonariensis than mites transmitted vertically via foster parents. The results highlight the previously underappreciated rate of transmission via horizontal contacts in maintaining host specificity on a microevolutionary scale. On a macroevolutionary scale, however, host switches were estimated to have occurred as frequently as codivergences. This suggests that macroevolutionary patterns resulting from rare events cannot be easily generalized from short-term evolutionary trends.

All

A quantitative analysis of mite symbionts of a brood parasitic passerine bird indicates that conspecific horizontal transmission plays a key role in host colonization and it can also promote codiversification at the macroevolutionary scale.

Details

Title
Horizontal transmission maintains host specificity and codiversification of symbionts in a brood parasitic host
Author
Pedroso, Luiz Gustavo A. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Klimov, Pavel B. 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mironov, Sergey V. 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; OConnor, Barry M. 4 ; Braig, Henk R. 5 ; Pepato, Almir R. 6 ; Johnson, Kevin P. 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; He, Qixin 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hernandes, Fabio Akashi 9 

 Universidade Estadual Paulista, Departamento de Zoologia, Av. 24-A, 1515, 13506-900, Rio Claro, Brazil (GRID:grid.410543.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2188 478X); Purdue University, Department of Biological Sciences, West Lafayette, USA (GRID:grid.169077.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 2197); University of Michigan, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, USA (GRID:grid.214458.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7347) 
 Purdue University, Department of Biological Sciences, West Lafayette, USA (GRID:grid.169077.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 2197); Tyumen State University, Tyumen, Russia (GRID:grid.446209.d) (ISNI:0000 0000 9203 3563); Bangor University, Brambell 503, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor, UK (GRID:grid.7362.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 1882 0937) 
 Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia (GRID:grid.439287.3) (ISNI:0000 0001 2314 7601) 
 University of Michigan, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, USA (GRID:grid.214458.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7347) 
 Bangor University, Brambell 503, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor, UK (GRID:grid.7362.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 1882 0937); National University of San Juan, Institute and Museum of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences, San Juan, Argentina (GRID:grid.412229.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 2182 6512) 
 Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (GRID:grid.8430.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 2181 4888) 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Champaign, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991) 
 Purdue University, Department of Biological Sciences, West Lafayette, USA (GRID:grid.169077.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 2197) 
 Universidade Estadual Paulista, Departamento de Zoologia, Av. 24-A, 1515, 13506-900, Rio Claro, Brazil (GRID:grid.410543.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2188 478X); Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, CCB/ECZ, Trindade, Florianópolis, Brazil (GRID:grid.411237.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2188 7235) 
Pages
1171
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
23993642
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2890598514
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.