Generation of a microsporidia species attribute database and analysis of the extensive ecological and phenotypic diversity of microsporidia

Abstract

Microsporidia are a large group of fungal-related obligate intracellular parasites. Though many microsporidia species have been identified over the past 160 years, there is a lacking depiction of the full diversity of this phylum. To systematically describe the characteristics of these parasites, we created a database of 1,428 species and their attributes, including the hosts they infect and spore characteristics. We find that microsporidia have been reported to infect 15 metazoan and four protozoan phyla, with smaller phyla being underrepresented. Most species are only reported to infect a single host, but those that are generalists are also more likely to infect a broader set of host tissues. Strikingly, polar tubes are 3-fold longer in species that infect tissues besides the intestine, suggesting that polar tube length is a determinant of tissue specificity. Phylogenetic analysis revealed four clades which each contain microsporidia infecting hosts from all major habitats. Although related species are more likely to infect similar hosts, we observe examples of changes in host specificity and convergent evolution. Taken together, our results show that microsporidia display vast diversity in their morphology and the hosts they infect, illustrating the flexibility of these parasites to evolve new traits.

Temporal variations of Microsporidia diversity and discovery of new host–parasite interactions in a lake ecosystem

“…4, Supplementary Information 9). Half of these potential associations involved eukaryotic phyla already identified as Microsporidia hosts: Ciliophora, Apicomplexa, Arthropoda and Rotifera (Murareanu et al ., 2021). Among these, several co‐occurrences identified genera already described as hosts for Microsporidia: 10 co‐occurrences with the ciliate genera Vorticella , Frontania and Stentor (Görtz, 1987; Fokin et al ., 2008), four associations with the rotifer genus Brachionus (Gorbunov and Kosova, 2001; Wolska and Mazurkiewicz‐Zapalowicz, 2013) and 10 co‐occurrences with arthropods belonging to the order Cyclopoida (Stentiford et al ., 2013).…”

Population genetic analysis reveals the role of natural selection and phylogeography on genome-wide diversity in an extremely compact and reduced microsporidian genome

“…Microsporidia are a clade of intracellular parasites that is characterized by high variation in many aspects of life history and genomics. They cause diseases commonly referred to as microsporidiosis in agriculturally important animals, honeybees, and immunocompromised humans, among others [9,10] and are reported to infect even unicellular organisms [11]. A growing body of research features them as a model clade for understanding evolutionary processes related to extreme parasitism [10,11].…”

“…They cause diseases commonly referred to as microsporidiosis in agriculturally important animals, honeybees, and immunocompromised humans, among others [9,10] and are reported to infect even unicellular organisms [11]. A growing body of research features them as a model clade for understanding evolutionary processes related to extreme parasitism [10,11]. Microsporidia are phylogenetically associated with the fungi, but show high specialization to intracellular life-style combined with a large variation in life histories [12].…”

“…For example, large, gene-sparse genomes evolved in the microsporidian genera Hamiltosporidium and Nosema after a switch from horizontal transmission to mixed-mode transmission, which reduced N e [8]. However, only ∼18 % of the species are potentially vertically transmitted [11], while the more common exclusive horizontal transmission should allow for large N e and the maintenance of the typical streamlined, i.e., reduced and compact, genomes.…”

High-throughput small molecule screen identifies inhibitors of microsporidia invasion and proliferation in C. elegans

“…Microsporidia are a diverse group of parasites, comprising over 1400 species that can infect most major animal phyla (1)(2)(3). Many microsporidia species infect agriculturally important animals.…”