National Repository of Grey Literature 2 records found  Search took 0.01 seconds. 
Coevolution of avian ectoparasites in the tropics
Gajdošová, Magdalena ; Munclinger, Pavel (advisor) ; Votýpka, Jan (referee)
Host-parasite associations are born by cospeciations or by host switches. Feather lice have traditionally been used as model parasites for studying these events and underlying ecological factors. By now tens of analyses have addressed comparisons of host and parasite phylogenies to study cospeciations and host switches in lice, however, these analyses are strongly biased towards the temperate zone. Tropical environment could provide new insight into the origin of host-parasite interactions, because it is ecologically unique. This work aims to supplement the knowledge of host-parasite associations in lice using coevolution analyses of two feather lice genera and their passerine hosts in tropical rainforest in Cameroon. It shows that lice in the tropics cospeciate rarely. To assess whether host switches are non-random and occur preferentially between hosts with specific traits, this work also analyses relations between parasite genetic distances and hosts' trait similarities. No effect of host morphology and spatial distribution was found. However, genetic distances of the lice strongly correlate with genetic distances of their hosts.
The intracellular symbionts of blood-feeding Diptera group Hippobosccoidea
ŠOCHOVÁ, Eva
Blood-sucking parasites from the Hippoboscoidea group (Insecta: Diptera) harbor symbiotic bacteria providing them with B-vitamins and cofactors missing from their blood diet. Although including medically important vectors such as tsetse flies, evolutionary history of symbiosis in the whole group is poorly understood. This thesis is focused on analysis of symbionts in the Hippoboscidae family (parasites of birds and mammals). Phylogenetic approach was employed to determine lineages of obligatory and facultative symbionts present in this group. Results of the study indicate that relationships between Hippoboscoidea and their symbionts are extremely dynamic with frequent replacements of obligate symbionts. To which extent is this dynamic evolutionary history of symbiotic systems in Hippoboscoidea caused by features of their parasitic lifestyle (e.g. host switches from mammals to birds) will be an interesting question for further studies.

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