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Phylogenetic relationships of Isospora, Lankesterella, and Caryospora species (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) infecting lizards

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Abstract

In this study, several species of Isospora infecting lizards were genetically characterized. Specifically, five described and four newly described species of Isospora were included in a phylogeny of the family Eimeriidae. These species were isolated from hosts originally inhabiting all geographic continents except Europe. Phylogenetic analyses of the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene grouped these nine species of Isospora with Lankesterella species and Caryospora ernsti. Therefore, within this clade, different evolutionary strategies in oocyst development and transmission occurred. Although the characteristic endogenous oocyst development of the genus Lankesterella may have arisen only once, the reduction in the number of sporocysts observed in the genus Caryospora occurred at least twice during coccidian evolution, as evidenced by the phylogenetic position of Caryospora bigenetica as the sister taxon of the group formed by reptilian Isospora, Lankesterella, and C. ernsti. Within this group, C. ernsti was the sister taxon to the genus Lankesterella. Overall, our results contradict the proposed monophyly of the genus Caryospora, highlighting the need for a thorough taxonomic and systematic revision of the group. Furthermore, they suggest that the recent ancestor of the genus Lankesterella may have been heteroxenous.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. D. W. Duszynski for sending helpful references for this study; Prof. M. A. Alonso Zarazaga for his corrections on the specific names proposed in this study for the new species of Isospora; we thank Abdessalem Hammouda and Foued Hamza who helped with the fieldwork in Tunisia. All the people in the pet stores in Madrid for allowing us to collect samples from captive reptiles; C. Romeu for his helpful contribution of fecal samples from American geckoes, Gonatodes spp. and Sphaerodactylus spp.; A. Acevedo, A. Martín, G. Albaladejo, E. Serrano, and C. Romero for their persistence in the field to obtain Gallotia and Tarentola samples in Tenerife; and the staff and facilities of the field station of the “Refugio Nacional de Caza de las Islas Chafarinas” and “El Ventorrillo” (MNCN-CSIC) for their logistical support. Permissions for capturing reptiles in the wild and for collecting samples were obtained from the Departamento de Desarrollo Rural y Medio Ambiente, Gobierno de Navarra; Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca y Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía; Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la Lutte Contre la Désertification of Morocco; Direction Générale des Forêts, Ministère de l’Agriculture of Tunissia; Instituto Aragonés de Gestión Ambiental, Departamento de Agricultura, Ganadería y Medio Ambiente, Gobierno de Aragón; Delegación Territorial de Segovia y Delegación Territorial de León, Servicio Territorial de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Castilla y León; Área de Medio Ambiente, Sotenibilidad Territorial y Aguas, Cabildo Insular de Tenerife; and Dirección General del Medio Ambiente de la Comunidad de Madrid. Financial support for field campaigns and lab analyses was provided by a contract from the Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales (Spain) and by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (project CGL2009-09439 to S. M. and J. Martínez, project CGL2011-24150 to J. Martín, and grant number BES-2010-038427 to R. M.-P.), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (project CGL2012-40026-C02-01 to S. M. and project CGL2012-40026-C02-02 to J. Martínez), and the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia and the European Regional Development Fund (project CGL2008-00137 to J. J. C. and J. B.).

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  1. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, J. Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, E-28006, Madrid, Spain

    Rodrigo Megía-Palma, José Javier Cuervo, José Martín, Jesús Ortega, Roberto García-Roa & Santiago Merino

  2. Departamento de Biomedicina y Biotecnología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Alcalá de Henares, E-28871, Madrid, Spain

    Javier Martínez

  3. Département des Sciences de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences de Gabès, Gabès, Tunisia

    Intissar Nasri & Slaheddine Selmi

  4. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, J. Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, E-28006, Madrid, Spain

    Iván Acevedo

  5. Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Sección de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, E-28805, Madrid, Spain

    Josabel Belliure

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  1. Rodrigo Megía-Palma
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Correspondence to Rodrigo Megía-Palma.

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Megía-Palma, R., Martínez, J., Nasri, I. et al. Phylogenetic relationships of Isospora, Lankesterella, and Caryospora species (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) infecting lizards. Org Divers Evol 16, 275–288 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-015-0253-3

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