Phylogeography and demographic history of Gyrodactylus konovalovi (Monogenoidea: Gyrodactylidae), an ectoparasite on the East Asia Amur minnow (Cyprinidae) in Central China

Abstract

Gyrodactylus konovalovi is an ectoparasite on the Amur minnow (Rhynchocypris lagowskii) that is widely distributed in the cold fresh waters of East Asia. In the present study, the phylogeography and demographic history of G. konovalovi and the distribution of its host in the Qinling Mountains are examined. A total of 79 individual parasites was sequenced for a 528 bp region of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5) gene, and 25 haplotypes were obtained. The substitution rate (dN/dS) was 0.068 and indicated purifying selection. Haplotype diversity (h) and nucleotide diversity (π) varied widely in the Qinling Mountains. Phylogenetic trees based on Bayesian inference (BI), maximum likelihood (ML), and maximum parsimony (MP) methods and network analysis revealed that all haplotypes were consistently well‐supported in three different lineages, indicating a significant geographic distribution pattern. There was a significant positive correlation between genetic differentiation (Fst) and geographic distance. The results of mismatch distribution, neutrality test and Bayesian skyline plot analyses showed that whole populations underwent population contraction during the Pleistocene. Based on the molecular clock calibration, the most common ancestor was estimated to have emerged in the middle Pleistocene. Our study suggests for the first time that a clearly phylogeography of G. konovalovi was shaped by geological events and climate fluctuations, such as orogenesis, drainage capture changes, and vicariance, during the Pleistocene in the Qinling Mountains.

The phylogeographical pattern of the Amur minnow Rhynchocypris lagowskii (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) in the Qinling Mountains

“…PCR amplification was performed in a total volume of 25 µL, containing 3 mM MgCl 2 , 10 mM Tris‐HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 0.25 mM of each dNTP, 1.25 U rTaq polymerase (TaKaRa, Dalian, China), 0.4 μM of each primer, 45 ng gDNA, tapped with Milli‐Q water. The following cycling conditions were applied: initial denaturation for 1 min at 93°C followed by 35 cycles of denaturation for 10 s at 92°C, annealing for 1.5 min at 51°C, and extension for 2 min at 60°C with a final extension for 6 min at 72°C (Chen et al, 2020). All fragments were initially purified with a PCR purification kit (BGI Biotech, Shenzhen, China), subsequently subjected to electrophoresis in a 1% agarose gel, and finally sequenced with the forward primer using an ABI Prism®3730 automated sequencer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, USA).…”

“…Total genomic DNA of R. lagowskii was extracted from each specimen following the operation instruction of the TIANamp Marine Animals DNA Kit (Tiangen Biotech, Beijing, China). The forward primer Cytb-F (5'-ATGGCAAGCCTACGAAAAAC-3') and the reverse primer Cytb-R (5'-GATTACAAGACCGATGCTTT-3') designed based on the same species (Zhao et al, 2016) ing cycling conditions were applied: initial denaturation for 1 min at 93°C followed by 35 cycles of denaturation for 10 s at 92°C, annealing for 1.5 min at 51°C, and extension for 2 min at 60°C with a final extension for 6 min at 72°C (Chen et al, 2020). All fragments were initially purified with a PCR purification kit (BGI Biotech, Shenzhen, China), subsequently subjected to electrophoresis in a 1% agarose gel, and finally sequenced with the forward primer using an ABI Prism®3730 automated sequencer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, USA).…”

“…The Qinling Mountains represent a natural boundary between the northern and southern regions of the country and separate the Chinese temperate and subtropical climatic zones (Ding et al, 2013), resulting in differentiated terrestrial and freshwater fauna (Li, 1981;Zhang, 2011). Meanwhile, the rapid uplift of these mountains and climatic oscillation were influenced by the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau movement from the Miocene to the Pleistocene and have played important roles in influencing the phylogeographical patterns of a variety of organisms, including parasite, amphibian, fish, and mammal species (Chen et al, 2020;Hardouin et al, 2018;He et al, 1992;Hu et al, 2021;Huang et al, 2017;Li et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2015;Meng et al, 2014;Shao et al, 2019;Shi, 2002;Wang et al, 2012Wang et al, , 2013Yu et al, 2014;Zhang & Fang, 2012).…”

“…Phylogeography is the study of historical processes that may be responsible for the contemporary geographic distributions of genealogical lineages within and among closely related species and is primarily conducted using molecular markers (Avise, 2000; Bowen et al, 2016; Chen et al, 2020; Hardouin et al, 2018; Li et al, 2011; Schneider et al, 1998; Wang et al, 2012; Wu et al, 2009; Yu et al, 2014). It can be used to identify different historical forces, such as population expansion, bottlenecks, climate oscillation, vicariance, and migration, analyze the variation in population distributions, and reconstruct the evolutionary processes of fauna and flora (Huang, 2012).…”

Geographic range, distribution patterns and interactions of Monogenea Van Beneden 1858, with species of native host freshwater fishes from Brazil

“…The difference in parasite host range between the two continents could potentially be explained by either the low overall level of sampling activity in North America or an underestimation of parasite diversity in Europe (Kuchta et al, 2020). Studies on the geographic distribution and phylogeography of Gyrodactylus konovalovi (Ergens 1976) from Central China suggests their phylogeography was shaped by geological events and climate fluctuations, such as orogenesis, drainage capture changes, and vicariance during the Pleistocene in the Qinling Mountains (Chen et al, 2020). Nevertheless, the global geographic distribution of monogeneans is yet unknown.…”