Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Diversity of Protists I

Diversity of Protists I

Excavata is a diverse group of protists that includes both chemoorganotrophic and phototrophic species, with some thriving in anaerobic environments. Among the key groups within Excavata are diplomonads and parabasalids, which are flagellated protists that lack mitochondria and chloroplasts. These microorganisms typically inhabit anoxic environments, such as the intestines of animals, where they exist either symbiotically or as parasites, relying on fermentation for energy production. Some...

Applications of Molecular Taxonomy

Applications of Molecular Taxonomy

Molecular taxonomy has revolutionized the understanding and classification of bacteria, providing precise insights into their diversity, evolutionary relationships, and ecological roles. By utilizing molecular techniques such as DNA sequencing and fingerprinting, researchers have made significant strides in various fields related to bacterial studies.Resolving Taxonomic AmbiguitiesMolecular taxonomy has been instrumental in distinguishing closely related bacterial species initially thought to...

Diversity of Protists II

Diversity of Protists II

Alveolates are a group of organisms recognized by the presence of alveoli, which are cytoplasmic sacs located beneath the cell membrane. While their function remains uncertain, alveoli may help regulate water balance by controlling how much water enters and leaves the cell. In dinoflagellates, these structures may serve as armor plates. There are three major types of alveolates: ciliates, which move using cilia; dinoflagellates, which use flagella for movement; and apicomplexans, which are...

Symbiosis

Symbiosis

Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Longitudinal Impacts of Forest Loss on Bartonella and Hemotropic Mycoplasma Dynamics in Vampire Bats Within a Fragmented Habitat.

Molecular ecology·2026

Same author

Molecular detection of relapsing fever <i>Borrelia puertoricensis</i> in migratory Mexican free-tailed bats.

mSphere·2026

Same author

A global-scale assessment of zoonotic virus diversity and spillover potential in urban-adapted mammal species.

Nature microbiology·2026

Same author

Virus-Dependent Geographic Structure of Co-Circulating Viruses in a Single Bat Species.

Molecular ecology·2026

Same author

Pathogens and planetary change.

Nature reviews. Biodiversity·2026

Same author

A general framework for modeling pathogen transmission in co-roosting host communities.

Ecology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 25, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advanced Enteroid Model for Studying Host-Pathogen Interactions

Author Spotlight: Advanced Enteroid Model for Studying Host-Pathogen Interactions

Published on: April 5, 2024

Taxonomic resolution affects host-parasite association model performance.

Tad A Dallas¹, Daniel J Becker²

¹Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA70802, USA.

|December 21, 2020

Summary

Taxonomic resolution matters for predicting host-parasite associations. Taxon-specific models, focusing on helminth groups like Acanthocephalans, consistently outperform broader models, improving parasite distribution and transmission predictions.

Keywords:

Boosted regression trees parasite macroecology phylogenetic scale

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: AI-Driven Trypanosome Species Detection from Microscopic Images

Author Spotlight: AI-Driven Trypanosome Species Detection from Microscopic Images

Published on: October 27, 2023

Author Spotlight: Real-Time Monitoring of Parasite Burden and Host Response

Author Spotlight: Real-Time Monitoring of Parasite Burden and Host Response

Published on: May 31, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 25, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advanced Enteroid Model for Studying Host-Pathogen Interactions

Author Spotlight: Advanced Enteroid Model for Studying Host-Pathogen Interactions

Published on: April 5, 2024

Author Spotlight: AI-Driven Trypanosome Species Detection from Microscopic Images

Author Spotlight: AI-Driven Trypanosome Species Detection from Microscopic Images

Published on: October 27, 2023

Author Spotlight: Real-Time Monitoring of Parasite Burden and Host Response

Author Spotlight: Real-Time Monitoring of Parasite Burden and Host Response

Published on: May 31, 2024

Area of Science:

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Parasitology
Biodiversity Science

Background:

Host-parasite interactions are crucial for understanding species distributions and cross-species transmission.
Phylogenetic relatedness influences host-parasite associations, but specificity varies with parasite traits.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how taxonomic resolution impacts the accuracy of predictive models for host-parasite associations.
To determine if using broader datasets or specific parasite subsets yields better predictions.

Main Methods:

Utilized the London Natural History Museum's host-helminth interaction database.
Employed boosted regression trees to build and compare predictive models.
Analyzed models at different taxonomic resolutions (full dataset vs. taxon-specific subsets).

Main Results:

Taxon-specific models for Acanthocephalans, Nematodes, and Platyhelminthes consistently outperformed full models in predicting mammal-helminth associations.
Model performance did not vary at finer spatial resolutions, indicating scale-dependent tradeoffs.
Key host and parasite covariates were identified across all models.

Conclusions:

Taxonomic resolution significantly influences the predictive power of host-parasite models.
Using taxonomic subsets of data can enhance predictions of parasite distributions and cross-species transmission.
Future models should consider desired spatial and phylogenetic scales, potentially using ensemble methods.