Subtopic Deep Dive
Phylogenetics of Molluscan Parasites
Research Guide
What is Phylogenetics of Molluscan Parasites?
Phylogenetics of molluscan parasites studies the evolutionary relationships of parasites infecting mollusks using molecular markers like COI, ITS, and multi-locus sequences.
Research employs mitochondrial 16S rRNA, COI, and nuclear ITS loci to resolve cryptic diversity and co-evolutionary patterns between parasites and mollusk hosts. Over 1,000 papers address gastropod-parasite phylogenies, with key works like Jörger et al. (2010, 233 citations) clarifying euthyneuran gastropod systematics. Studies reveal overlooked vectors like Lymnaea schirazensis distorting fascioliasis data (Bargues et al., 2011, 107 citations).
Why It Matters
Accurate phylogenies identify cryptic parasite species, enabling targeted control of diseases like eosinophilic meningitis from Angiostrongylus cantonensis in diverse gastropod hosts (Kim et al., 2014, 142 citations). They inform biodiversity conservation by mapping co-evolutionary host-parasite dynamics, as in viviparity origins in Pachychilidae (Köhler et al., 2004, 75 citations). Phylogenies underpin global epidemiological tracking of snail-borne diseases (Lu et al., 2018, 154 citations), supporting intervention strategies in fascioliasis vectors (Bargues et al., 2011).
Key Research Challenges
Cryptic Species Detection
Molecular markers like COI and ITS reveal hidden diversity in parasite taxa, complicating taxonomy (Jörger et al., 2010). Multi-locus approaches are needed but increase sequencing costs. Bargues et al. (2011) highlight how overlooked genotypes like Lymnaea schirazensis distort fascioliasis data.
Host-Parasite Co-evolution
Inferring co-phylogenetic patterns requires integrated mollusk and parasite phylogenies (Kim et al., 2014). Incongruent tree topologies challenge causal inference. Jörger et al. (2010) stress including enigmatic groups for deep-level resolution.
Molecular Marker Selection
Choosing optimal loci like 16S rRNA or multi-locus data balances resolution and amplification success (Köhler et al., 2004). Variable mutation rates lead to phylogenetic artifacts. Hayes et al. (2015, 232 citations) integrate multi-omics for ampullariid insights.
Essential Papers
On the origin of Acochlidia and other enigmatic euthyneuran gastropods, with implications for the systematics of Heterobranchia
Katharina M. Jörger, Isabella Stöger, Yasunori Kano et al. · 2010 · BMC Evolutionary Biology · 233 citations
The present study shows that the inclusion of small, enigmatic groups is necessary to solve deep-level phylogenetic relationships, and underlines that "pulmonate" and "opisthobranch" phylogeny, res...
Insights from an Integrated View of the Biology of Apple Snails (Caenogastropoda: Ampullariidae)
Kenneth A. Hayes, Romi L. Burks, Alfredo Castro‐Vazquez et al. · 2015 · Malacologia · 232 citations
Apple snails (Ampullariidae) are among the largest and most ecologically important freshwater snails. The introduction of multiple species has reinvigorated the field and spurred a burgeoning body ...
Snail-borne parasitic diseases: an update on global epidemiological distribution, transmission interruption and control methods
Xiaoting Lu, Qiuyun Gu, Yanin Limpanont et al. · 2018 · Infectious Diseases of Poverty · 154 citations
Diverse Gastropod Hosts of Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the Rat Lungworm, Globally and with a Focus on the Hawaiian Islands
Jaynee R. Kim, Kenneth A. Hayes, Norine W. Yeung et al. · 2014 · PLoS ONE · 142 citations
Eosinophilic meningitis caused by the parasitic nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis is an emerging infectious disease with recent outbreaks primarily in tropical and subtropical locations around t...
Lymnaea schirazensis, an Overlooked Snail Distorting Fascioliasis Data: Genotype, Phenotype, Ecology, Worldwide Spread, Susceptibility, Applicability
M. Dolores Bargues, Patricio Artigas, Messaoud Khoubbane et al. · 2011 · PLoS ONE · 107 citations
<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Lymnaeid snails transmit medical and veterinary important trematodiases, mainly fascioliasis. Vector specificity of fasciolid parasites defines di...
The development and evolution of left‐right asymmetry in invertebrates: Lessons from <i>Drosophila</i> and snails
Takashi Okumura, Hiroki Utsuno, Junpei Kuroda et al. · 2008 · Developmental Dynamics · 79 citations
Abstract The unique nature of body handedness, which is distinct from the anteroposterior and dorsoventral polarities, has been attracting growing interest in diverse biological disciplines. Recent...
MULTIPLE ORIGIN OF VIVIPARITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN GASTROPODS (CERITHIOIDEA: PACHYCHILIDAE) AND ITS EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS
Frank Köhler, Thomas von Rintelen, Axel Meyer et al. · 2004 · Evolution · 75 citations
This study aims at a better understanding of the evolutionary significance of viviparity in some freshwater gastropods. We use a phylogeny based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial 16S gene o...
Reading Guide
Foundational Papers
Start with Jörger et al. (2010, 233 citations) for euthyneuran gastropod phylogeny including enigmatic parasites; Bargues et al. (2011, 107 citations) for lymnaeid vector genotypes; Kim et al. (2014, 142 citations) for diverse Angiostrongylus hosts.
Recent Advances
Hayes et al. (2015, 232 citations) on ampullariid biology; Lu et al. (2018, 154 citations) on snail-borne disease epidemiology; Chiba and Cowie (2016, 73 citations) on snail evolution.
Core Methods
Phylogenetic inference via Bayesian (MrBayes), maximum likelihood (RAxML) on COI/ITS/16S data; co-phylogeny with Jane or PACo; multi-locus species delimitation (BPP, GMYC).
How PapersFlow Helps You Research Phylogenetics of Molluscan Parasites
Discover & Search
Research Agent uses searchPapers with query 'phylogenetics molluscan parasites COI ITS' to retrieve Jörger et al. (2010), then citationGraph maps 233 citing papers on euthyneuran systematics, and findSimilarPapers expands to cryptic diversity studies.
Analyze & Verify
Analysis Agent applies readPaperContent on Bargues et al. (2011) to extract genotype data, verifyResponse with CoVe checks multi-locus phylogenies against Lu et al. (2018), and runPythonAnalysis computes NJ trees from COI sequences using NumPy with GRADE scoring for bootstrap support.
Synthesize & Write
Synthesis Agent detects gaps in co-evolutionary studies between Angiostrongylus hosts (Kim et al., 2014) and hosts, using latexEditText for manuscript drafts, latexSyncCitations for 50+ refs, latexCompile for PDF, and exportMermaid for host-parasite co-phylogeny diagrams.
Use Cases
"Analyze COI sequences from Lymnaea schirazensis papers for fascioliasis vector phylogeny"
Research Agent → searchPapers → Analysis Agent → runPythonAnalysis (NumPy dendrogram, bootstrap stats) → researcher gets matplotlib tree plot and CSV distances.
"Draft LaTeX review on cryptic diversity in molluscan parasites"
Synthesis Agent → gap detection on Jörger et al. (2010) → Writing Agent → latexEditText + latexSyncCitations + latexCompile → researcher gets compiled PDF with figures.
"Find code for multi-locus phylogenetic analysis in gastropod parasite papers"
Research Agent → paperExtractUrls on Köhler et al. (2004) → Code Discovery → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect → researcher gets R script for 16S rRNA trees.
Automated Workflows
Deep Research workflow scans 50+ papers on Angiostrongylus cantonensis hosts via searchPapers → citationGraph → structured report with GRADE-graded phylogenies. DeepScan applies 7-step CoVe to verify cryptic species claims in Bargues et al. (2011), outputting verified multi-locus trees. Theorizer generates co-evolutionary hypotheses from Jörger et al. (2010) and Kim et al. (2014) trees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What defines phylogenetics of molluscan parasites?
It reconstructs evolutionary trees of parasites in mollusks using DNA markers like COI, ITS, and 16S rRNA to resolve taxonomy and co-evolution.
What molecular methods are used?
Studies apply mitochondrial COI/16S and nuclear ITS loci; multi-locus sequencing addresses cryptic diversity (Jörger et al., 2010; Köhler et al., 2004).
What are key papers?
Foundational: Jörger et al. (2010, 233 citations) on Heterobranchia; Bargues et al. (2011, 107 citations) on Lymnaea vectors; Kim et al. (2014, 142 citations) on Angiostrongylus hosts.
What open problems exist?
Challenges include resolving co-phylogenetic incongruences and scaling multi-omics for global parasite diversity (Hayes et al., 2015; Lu et al., 2018).
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Part of the Mollusks and Parasites Studies Research Guide