title: Host dispersal as the driver of parasite genetic structure: a paradigm lost?
abstract: Understanding traits influencing the distribution of genetic diversity has major ecological and evolutionary implications for host-parasite interactions. The genetic structure of parasites is expected to conform to that of their hosts, because host dispersal is generally assumed to drive parasite dispersal. Here, we used a meta-analysis to test this paradigm and determine whether traits related to host dispersal correctly predict the spatial co-distribution of host and parasite genetic variation. We compiled data from empirical work on local adaptation and host-parasite population genetic structure from a wide range of taxonomic groups. We found that genetic differentiation was significantly lower in parasites than in hosts, suggesting that dispersal may often be higher for parasites. A significant correlation in the pairwise genetic differentiation of hosts and parasites was evident, but surprisingly weak. These results were largely explained by parasite reproductive mode, the proportion of free-living stages in the parasite life cycle and the geographical extent of the study; variables related to host dispersal were poor predictors of genetic patterns. Our results do not dispel the paradigm that parasite population genetic structure depends on host dispersal. Rather, we highlight that alternative factors are also important in driving the co-distribution of host and parasite genetic variation.
authors: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Station d'Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS à Moulis, USR 2936, F-09200, Moulis, France.
authors: Elise
authors: E
authors: Mazé-Guilmo
authors: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Station d'Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS à Moulis, USR 2936, F-09200, Moulis, France.|Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier, École Nationale de Formation Agronomique (ENFA), UMR5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062, Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
authors: Simon
authors: S
authors: Blanchet
authors: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Université de Montpellier, UMR 5290 MIVEGEC, 911 Avenue Agropolis, F-34394, Montpellier, France.
authors: Karen D
authors: KD
authors: McCoy
authors: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Station d'Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS à Moulis, USR 2936, F-09200, Moulis, France.|Université de Toulouse, UPS, UMR 5174 (EDB), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062, Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
authors: Géraldine
authors: G
authors: Loot
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D010271:Parasites / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Animals; co-structure; coevolution; gene flow; host-parasite interactions; local adaptation; meta-analyses; migration rate; plants; population genetics; trait diversity