HYBRID ZONES AND HOST-PARASITE RELATIONSHIPS: EFFECT ON THE EVOLUTION OF PARASITIC SPECIFICITY

Nathalie Le Brun; Francois Renaud; Patrick Berrebi; Alain Lambert

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1992.tb01984.x

HYBRID ZONES AND HOST-PARASITE RELATIONSHIPS: EFFECT ON THE EVOLUTION OF PARASITIC SPECIFICITY

Evolution. 1992 Feb;46(1):56-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1992.tb01984.x.

Authors

Nathalie Le Brun¹, Francois Renaud¹, Patrick Berrebi², Alain Lambert¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire de Parasitologie Comparée, Université Montpellier II. Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Place E. Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 5, FRANCE.
² Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université Montpellier II. Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Place E. Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 5, FRANCE.

PMID: 28564960
DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1992.tb01984.x

Abstract

In southern France, Diplozoon gracile (Monogenea, Polyopisthocotylea), parasitizes four sympatric cyprinids. One of these host species, Barbus meridionalis, naturally hybridizes with another species of barbel, Barbus barbus, which is never parasitized by D. gracile under natural conditions. This hybridization has previously been studied and described as an introgression of B. barbus by B. meridionalis. The hybrids are parasitized by D. gracile, and parasite prevalence increases in proportion to the introgression rate, i.e., the percentage of B. meridionalis genes. The causes for this preferential distribution of the parasite in the hybrid population are analysed on the basis of ecological and ethological differences between the two parent species.

Keywords: Helminths; hybrid zone; parasitic specificity; parasitism; population genetics; teleosteans.