title: Molecular diversity of entodiniomorphid ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti and its coevolution with chimpanzees.
abstract: The entodiniomorphid ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti is a colonic mutualist of great apes. Its host specificity makes it a suitable model for studies of primate evolution. We explored molecular diversity of T. abrassarti with regard to large geographical distribution and taxonomic diversity of its most common host, the chimpanzee. We found a very low diversification of T. abrassarti in chimpanzees across Africa. Distribution of two types of T. abrassarti supports evolutionary separation of the Western chimpanzee, P. t. verus, from populations in Central and East Africa. Type I T. abrassarti is probably a derived form, which corresponds with the Central African origin of chimpanzees and a founder event leading to P. t. verus. Exclusivity of the respective types of T. abrassarti to Western and Central/Eastern chimpanzees corroborates the difference found between an introduced population of presumed Western chimpanzees on Rubondo Island and an autochthonous population in mainland Tanzania. The identity of T. abrassarti from Nigerian P. t. ellioti and Central African chimpanzees suggests their close evolutionary relationship. Although this contrasts with published mtDNA data, it corroborates current opinion on the exclusive position of P. t. verus within the chimpanzee phylogeny. The type of T. abrassarti occurring in Central and East African common chimpanzee was confirmed also in bonobos. This may point to the presence of an ancestral Type II found throughout the Lower Guinean rainforest dating back to the common Pan ancestor. Alternatively, the molecular uniformity of T. abrassarti may imply a historical overlap of the species' distribution ranges.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic. vallo@ivb.cz
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vallo
authors.forename: Klára J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Petrželková
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Profousová
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petrášová
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pomajbíková
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Leendertz
authors.forename: Chie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Nicol
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Babweteera
authors.forename: Zarin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Machanda
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piel
authors.forename: Martha M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boesch
authors.forename: Crickette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furuichi
authors.forename: Shiho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
authors.forename: Taranjit
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Huffman
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Modrý
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D000818:Animals; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000235:genetics*; D016770:Ciliophora Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan