Collaborative Research: ASSESSING THE SYSTEMATICS AND DIVERSITY OF HAEMOSPORIDA IN AFRICAN LIZARDS

Villanova University, Villanova PA

Investigators

Abstract

Studying the diversity of symbionts offers a unique window to observe ecological and evolutionary dynamics between interdependent organisms. Further, like a canary in a coal mine, host switching by symbionts may reveal emerging risk factors leading to infectious diseases in hosts. On the other hand, extinction of symbionts inform can inform us about the impacts of environmental change. Information on symbionts diversity is limited, however, since they are relatively understudied organisms. This project investigates lizards and their haemosporidian symbionts in sub-Saharan Africa. Haemosporida is a diverse group of vector-borne protozoan symbionts found in terrestrial vertebrates in almost all world ecosystems. Although some species have been studied because of their link to malaria in birds and humans, haemosporidian symbionts in African lizards are poorly known. This project provides training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. Local assemblages of African lizards include sets of taxa differing in degree of ecological and phylogenetic distinctiveness. Unlike birds, lizards do not disperse broadly, and local assemblages are less diverse. These characteristics reduce bias in host species censuses, allowing us to test hypotheses about the factors driving host/symbiont biodiversity. Thus, this study aims to (1) advance our understanding of Haemosporida species delimitation by formalizing an approach that integrates morphological, molecular, and ecological data, (2) generate new knowledge on the processes driving haemosporidian species diversity by studying newly detected Haemosporida species in host clades across their distribution in distinct biomes, (3) enrich biodiversity sciences by developing standards for symbiont-host data integration, and (4) generate knowledge on the regional herpetofauna with new specimens and metadata. This study will provide new insights into regional evolutionary and ecological processes by considering Haemosporida as true elements of biodiversity rather than as traits or pathogens of their hosts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.