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Flatworm Transcriptomes Reveal Widespread Parasitism by Histophagous Ciliates.

M Ryan Woodcock1,2,3, Kaleigh Powers1, Kirsten Snead2,4

  • 1Department of Biology, Keene State College, Keene, NH, USA.

Genome Biology and Evolution
|January 19, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Tetrahymena ciliates are parasites of flatworms, not just free-living bacteria eaters. This study reveals new flatworm hosts and evidence of coevolution, offering insights into parasite-host dynamics.

Keywords:
CiliophoraPlatyhelminthesciliateparasiteparasitismplanarian

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Area of Science:

  • Parasitology
  • Bioinformatics
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Unicellular ciliates, such as Tetrahymena, are known as bacterivores but can also be parasites (histophages).
  • These histophagous ciliates infect various hosts, including commercially important fish and endangered mussel larvae.
  • Platyhelminthes (flatworms) are among the hosts for these parasitic ciliates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify new host species for Tetrahymena ciliates within the Platyhelminthes phylum.
  • To investigate the coevolutionary relationship between histophagous ciliates and their flatworm hosts.
  • To explore the potential role of invasive flatworms in ciliate dispersal.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a novel bioinformatics pipeline accounting for the nonstandard ciliate genetic code.
  • Screening of over 2.6 million Platyhelminthes expressed sequence tags (ESTs) to identify Ciliophora sequences.
  • Culturing and identification of Tetrahymena from various planarian species.
  • Co-phylogenetic reconstruction to infer host-parasite evolutionary history.
  • Experimental expulsion of Tetrahymena from Schmidtea mediterranea using paromomycin.

Main Results:

  • Identification of nearly 6,000 high-confidence ciliate transcripts, confirming parasitism in seven additional flatworm species.
  • Isolation and identification of Tetrahymena from nine planarian species, including invasive Bipalium and model organisms like Dugesia japonica and Schmidtea mediterranea.
  • Co-phylogenetic analysis strongly supporting the coevolution of histophagous ciliates and Platyhelminthes hosts.
  • Demonstration that paromomycin can effectively remove Tetrahymena from S. mediterranea.

Conclusions:

  • Platyhelminthes serve as significant hosts for Tetrahymena, expanding the known host range of these ciliates.
  • Strong evidence suggests coevolution between histophagous ciliates and their flatworm hosts.
  • Invasive flatworms may act as novel dispersal vectors for Tetrahymena parasites.
  • The Platyhelminthes phylum is proposed as an excellent model system for studying the ecology and evolution of histophagous ciliates.