Development and Characterization of 12 Novel Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci for the Mammal Chewing Louse Geomydoecus aurei (Insecta: Phthiraptera) and a Comparison of Next-Generation Sequencing Approaches for Use in Parasitology.

Next-generation sequencing methodologies open the door for evolutionary studies of wildlife parasites. We used 2 next-generation sequencing approaches to discover microsatellite loci in the pocket gopher chewing louse Geomydoecus aurei for use in population genetic studies. In one approach, we sequenced a library enriched for microsatellite loci; in the other approach, we mined microsatellites from genomic sequences. Following microsatellite discovery, promising loci were tested for amplification and polymorphism in 390 louse individuals from 13 pocket gopher hosts. In total, 12 loci were selected for analysis (6 from each methodology), none of which exhibited evidence of null alleles or heterozygote deficiencies. These 12 loci showed adequate genetic diversity for population-level analyses, with 3-9 alleles per locus with an average HE per locus ranging from 0.32 to 0.70. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) indicated that genetic variation among infrapopulations accounts for a low, but significant, percentage of the overall genetic variation, and individual louse infrapopulations showed FST values that were significantly different from zero in the majority of pairwise infrapopulation comparisons, despite all 13 infrapopulations being taken from the same locality. Therefore, these 12 polymorphic markers will be useful at the infrapopulation and population levels for future studies involving G. aurei. This study shows that next-generation sequencing methodologies can successfully be used to efficiently obtain data for a variety of evolutionary questions.

Molecular evolution of cytochrome b of subterranean mole rats, Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies, in Israel.

We describe the molecular evolution of cytochrome b of blind subterranean mole rats. We examined 12 individuals for nucleotide differences in the region of 402 base pairs of mitochondrial cytochrome b. Each individual represents a different population from the entire ecological and speciational range of the four chromosomal species in Israel (2n = 52, 54, 58, and 60) belonging to the Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies. Our results indicate the following. (i) There are seven first-position transitional differences, compared to 34 variable third positions, with no observed second-position substitutions. (ii) A maximum of four amino acids differences occurs across the range. (iii) Within-species diversity increases southward. Only 1 autoapomorphic substitution characterizes either 2n = 52 or 2n = 54, but 6-11 substitutions characterize 2n = 58, and 9-13 substitutions characterize 2n = 60. (iv) Both parsimony and maximum-likelihood trees suggest two monophyletic groups: (a) 2n = 52 and 54, and (b) 2n = 58 and 60, as identified earlier by other protein and DNA markers. (v) Mitochondrial cytochrome b heterogeneity is significantly correlated with climatic factors (rainfall) and biotic factors (body size and allozymes). We hypothesize that two selective regimes direct cytochrome b evolution in the S. ehrenbergi superspecies: (i) purifying selection in the flooded, mesic, hypoxic northern range of 2n = 52 and 54 and (ii) diversifying selection in the climatically spatiotemporal, xeric, and variable southern range of 2n = 58 and 60. Thus, the molecular evolution of mitochondrial cytochrome b in S. ehrenbergi is explicable by opposite selective stresses across the range of S. ehrenbergi in Israel, associated with the ecological adaptive radiation of the complex.

Pocket gophers and chewing lice: a test of the maternal transmission hypothesis.

The life-history traits of pocket gophers and their chewing lice suggest that there is little opportunity for transmission of parasites among pocket gophers, with the exception of transmission from mother to offspring. Herein, we test the hypothesis that lice are transmitted maternally by using an indirect approach that compares the distribution of louse populations to the distribution of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in the pocket gophers. Comparison of the chewing louse distributions to the distribution of mtDNA haplotypes for the gophers revealed no significant concordance, and thus falsifies the maternal transmission hypothesis.

Disparate rates of molecular evolution in cospeciating hosts and parasites.

DNA sequences for the gene encoding mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I in a group of rodents (pocket gophers) and their ectoparasites (chewing lice) provide evidence for cospeciation and reveal different rates of molecular evolution in the hosts and their parasites. The overall rate of nucleotide substitution (both silent and replacement changes) is approximately three times higher in lice, and the rate of synonymous substitution (based on analysis of fourfold degenerate sites) is approximately an order of magnitude greater in lice. The difference in synonymous substitution rate between lice and gophers correlates with a difference of similar magnitude in generation times.

AIDS epidemic among Florida women.

Impact of the human immunodeficiency virus among women in Florida is increasingly recognized in the second decade of the AIDS epidemic. Illicit drug use, sexual activity with multiple partners, lack of access to health care, and socioeconomic disadvantages are greatly contributing to the increase of female AIDS cases. Current salient features of the epidemic are summarized as well as prevention strategies to reduce transmission of the virus.