Evolutionary ecology of parasite diversity in African Great Lakes and beyond

Abstract

Metazoan parasites encompass a high proportion of global species diversity with neodermatan parasitic flatworms having one of the most successful evolutionary transitions to parasitism in terms of species numbers. However, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms structuring neodermantan assemblages remain poorly understood. African Great Lakes and their fauna are among the prime model systems for evolutionary research. Despite their regulatory role and functional importance in the ecosystem, until recently, parasitic organisms have been mostly ignored in these biodiversity hotspots. Our research in the region of African Great Lakes provides new insights on ecological and evolutionary dynamics of parasitic flatworms highlighting the interplay between environmental and host characteristics. Our work reveals patterns driving both macro- and microevolutionary dynamics of parasites including the effect of past lake-level changes, host diversity and migration pattern, and interspecies facilitation of infection. We present the importance of stress responses in parasite adaptive evolution, which might affect the fitness, infectivity, and virulence of these organisms, as well as the (re-)emergence infectious diseases in response to environmental disturbance. Accordingly, we identified the first potential molecular function linked to an evolutionary radiation of flatworms.