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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 13, 2026

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Published on: December 2, 2022

Cospeciation vs host-shift speciation: methods for testing, evidence from natural associations and relation to

D M de Vienne^1,2, G Refrégier^3,4, M López-Villavicencio⁵

¹Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.

The New Phytologist

|February 27, 2013

Summary

Cospeciation, where hosts and symbionts speciate together, is rare. Long-term evolutionary dynamics show that host shifts, not cospeciation, are more common in host-parasite and host-mutualist relationships.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Symbiosis Research
Host-Parasite Dynamics

Background:

Hosts and symbionts engage in complex interactions influencing their evolution.
The long-term evolutionary outcomes, specifically cospeciation versus host shifts, are critical to understanding these associations.

Purpose of the Study:

To review and analyze the long-term evolutionary dynamics of host-symbiont associations, focusing on cospeciation and speciation after host shifts.
To critically evaluate the occurrence of cospeciation and the reliability of cophylogenetic methods.

Main Methods:

Literature review and critical analysis of theoretical and experimental studies.
Comparison of divergence in pairwise associated host and symbiont species groups.
Examination of cophylogenetic methods and their potential overestimation of cospeciation.

Main Results:

Convincing cases of cospeciation are infrequent, occurring in only 7% of studied associations.
Cophylogenetic methods tend to overestimate the prevalence of cospeciation events.
Short-term coevolutionary dynamics can promote parasite specialization but do not necessitate cospeciation, often occurring after host shifts.

Conclusions:

Long-term evolutionary patterns in host-symbiont associations are not predominantly driven by cospeciation.
Host shifts play a significant role in the diversification of hosts and their symbionts.
Coevolutionary dynamics do not strongly favor long-term cospeciation.