Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
Published on: August 14, 2018
Host specificity in phylogenetic and geographic space
Robert Poulin1, Boris R Krasnov, David Mouillot
1Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. robert.poulin@otago.ac.nz
Abstract:
The measurement of host specificity goes well beyond counting how many host species can successfully be used by a parasite. In particular, specificity can be assessed with respect to how closely related the host species are, or whether a parasite exploits the same or different hosts across its entire geographic range. Recent developments in the measurement of biodiversity offer a new set of analytical tools that can be used to quantify the many aspects of host specificity. We describe here the multifaceted nature of host specificity, summarize the indices available to measure its different facets one at a time or in combination, and discuss their implications for parasite evolution and disease epidemiology.
Related Concept Videos
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Phylogenetic Species Concept in Microbiology
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Phylogeny
Microbial Phylogeny
Genetics of Speciation

