A widespread distribution for Arostrilepis tenuicirrosa (Eucestoda: Hymenolepididae) in Myodes voles (Cricetidae: Arvicolinae) from the Palearctic based on molecular and morphological evidence: historical and biogeographic implications

Seasonal variation of immune response to heterologous erythrocytes in natural populations of red-backed (Clethrionomys rutilus) and gray-sided (C. rufocanus) voles in Western Siberia

We studied the seasonal variation of adaptive humoral immunity (AHI) in northern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys rutilus Pallas, 1779, RBV) and gray-sided vole (C. rufocanus Sundevall, 1846, GSV) in Tomsk region of Western Siberia. Immunoresponsiveness (IR) to sheep red blood cells was assessed by the number of antibody-producing cells in the spleen. The use of a generalized linear model to analyze the effects of species, sex, year of research, and season of withdrawal of individuals from nature on IR showed a significant effect of species identity, season of animal capture, and the interaction of species with season. The RBV demonstrated higher immune responses during a year, and both species had higher IR in winter. Suppression of IR in spring was greater, started earlier, and lasted longer (March-May) in GSV. In RBV, immunosuppression was restricted to April. The significant negative within year correlations of IR with body mass and masses of reproductive organs in GSV indicated a trade-off between AHI and growth and reproduction processes. A probable explanation for the difference between species in the seasonal variation of AHI may be related to the difference in tropho-energetic requirements of each vole species. GSV is a predominantly herbivorous rodent and its thermoregulation seems less efficient than of RBV. The deeper spring immunosuppression in GSV may explain in part its higher mortality during the season of colds.

Discovery of Arostrilepis tapeworms (Cyclophyllidea: Hymenolepididae) and new insights for parasite species diversity from Eastern North America

Species of the genus Arostrilepis were discovered and definitively identified for the first time in rodents from geographically disparate localities along the Appalachian Mountain range of eastern North America (West Virginia, Virginia, and Maine). These are the first confirmed records for species of Arostrilepis occurring east of the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River in North America. Arostrilepis gardneri n. sp. is described on the basis of specimens obtained from two phylogenetically divergent rodent hosts: Southern Red-Backed Vole Myodes gapperi (Cricetidae: Arvicolinae) (from West Virginia) and the Woodland Jumping Mouse Napaeozapus insignis (Dipodidae: Zapodinae) (West Virginia, Virginia, and Maine). Additionally, in a mixed infection, specimens of Arostrilepis insperata n. sp. were also found in a Southern Red-Backed Vole from West Virginia. These previously unknown species are primarily distinguished from congeners based on shape, dimensions, and spination (pattern, shape, and size of spines) of the cirrus. Specimens of A. gardneri n. sp. are further characterized by the relative position and length of the cirrus-sac, arrangement of the testes, and relative size of the external seminal vesicle and seminal receptacle. Specimens of A. insperata n. sp. are structurally most similar to A. macrocirrosa from the western Nearctic and Palearctic but with consistently greater dimensions for the cirrus-sac, testes, and seminal receptacle. Phylogenetic analysis of Arostrilepis spp. using partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and the nuclear second ribosomal internal transcribed spacer strongly supported the status of A. gardneri n. sp. and A. insperata n. sp. within an unresolved clade of congeners in Red-Backed Voles (Myodini and species of Myodes). Our observations extend the known geographic distribution for species of Arostrilepis to the Appalachian Mountains in either a disjunct or possibly continuous but patchy range across North America. Prior observations, summarizing field and museum collections, had suggested that geographic ranges for a diverse assemblage of Arostrilepis in North America were largely restricted to the north-western region of the continent, with historical connections to Beringia and Eurasia. Recognition of a more extensive distribution is consistent with a history of episodic biotic expansion and isolation under a dynamic of taxon pulses for arvicoline rodents and an associated parasite fauna in the Nearctic during the Quaternary. Occurrence in a dipodid rodent represents an event of host colonization from an arvicoline source.

Insights on the host associations and geographic distribution of Hymenolepis folkertsi (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) among rodents across temperate latitudes of North America

Synoptic data and an understanding of helminth parasite diversity among diverse rodent assemblages across temperate latitudes of North America remain remarkably incomplete. Renewed attention to comprehensive survey and inventory to establish the structure of biodiverse faunas is essential in providing indicators and proxies for identifying the outcomes of accelerating change linked to climate warming and anthropogenic forcing. Subsequent to the description of Hymenolepis folkertsi in the oldfield mouse, Peromyscus polionotus, additional specimens of hymenolepidids were collected or discovered in archived museum repositories from multiple species of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus, Peromyscus leucopus), the golden mouse (Ochrotomys nuttalli), chipmunks (Tamias striatus, Tamias amoenus), the 13-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), and tree squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus niger) from disjunct localities in the USA spanning southern Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and central Idaho. Specimens were largely consistent morphologically with the original description of H. folkertsi. Initial DNA sequence data, from a portion of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1, demonstrated intraspecific variation among three apparently geographically isolated populations attributed to H. folkertsi (uncorrected genetic distances of 2.7 % (Idaho and Michigan), 2.4 % (Virginia + Pennsylvania and Michigan), and 1.89 % (VA + PA and ID). Geography rather than host association explains the distribution and occurrence of H. folkertsi, and host colonization among deer mice, chipmunks, and other sciurids within regional sites is indicated. Genetic divergence revealed across localities for H. folkertsi suggests historically isolated populations, consistent with extended evolutionary and biogeographic trajectories among hymenolepidids and species of Peromyscus and Tamias in North America. Field inventory, that revealed these parasite populations, substantially alters our understanding of the distribution of diversity and provides insights about the nature of the complex relationships that serve to determine cestode faunas in rodents.

Broadening diversity in the Arostrilepis horrida complex: Arostrilepis kontrimavichusi n. sp. (Cyclophyllidea: Hymenolepididae) in the western red-backed vole Myodes californicus (Merriam) (Cricetidae: Arvicolinae) from temperate latitudes of the Pacific Northwest, North America

Specimens originally identified provisionally as Hymenolepis horrida (Linstow, 1901) [later Arostrilepis horrida (Linstow, 1901)] in Myodes californicus (Merriam) from near the Pacific coastal zone of southern Oregon are revised. Specimens in western red-backed voles represent an undescribed species of Arostrilepis Mas Coma & Tenora, 1997, contributing to recognition and resolution of a broadening complex encompassing cryptic diversity for these hymenolepidid tapeworms distributed across the Holarctic region. Consistent with recent studies defining diversity in the genus, the form, dimensions, and spination (pattern, shape and size) of the cirrus are diagnostic. Among 12 nominal congeners, specimens of A. kontrimavichusi n. sp. are further distinguished by the relative position and length of the cirrus-sac, arrangement of the testes and relative size of the external seminal vesicle and seminal receptacle. Specimens from Oregon voles represent the fifth endemic hymenolepidid in this genus from the Nearctic. Host range for the North American assemblage of species includes Cricetidae (Arvicolinae and Neotominae), Heteromyidae, Geomyidae, and rarely Sciuridae.

Target gene enrichment in the cyclophyllidean cestodes, the most diverse group of tapeworms

The Cyclophyllidea is the most diverse order of tapeworms, encompassing species that infect all classes of terrestrial tetrapods including humans and domesticated animals. Available phylogenetic reconstructions based either on morphology or molecular data lack the resolution to allow scientists to either propose a solid taxonomy or infer evolutionary associations. Molecular markers available for the Cyclophyllidea mostly include ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial loci. In this study, we identified 3641 single-copy nuclear coding loci by comparing the genomes of Hymenolepis microstoma, Echinococcus granulosus and Taenia solium. We designed RNA baits based on the sequence of H. microstoma, and applied target enrichment and Illumina sequencing to test the utility of those baits to recover loci useful for phylogenetic analyses. We captured DNA from five species of tapeworms representing two families of cyclophyllideans. We obtained an average of 3284 (90%) of the targets from the test samples and then used captured sequences (2 181 361 bp in total; fragment size ranging from 301 to 6969 bp) to reconstruct a phylogeny for the five test species plus the three species for which genomic data are available. The results were consistent with the current consensus regarding cyclophyllidean relationships. To assess the potential for our method to yield informative genetic variation at intraspecific scales, we extracted 14 074 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from alignments of four Arostrilepis macrocirrosa and two A. cooki and successfully inferred their relationships. The results showed that our target gene tools yield data sets that provide robust inferences at a range of taxonomic scales in the Cyclophyllidea.