Several recent studies have used the evolutionary history of parasites to infer aspects of human evolutionary history. For example, one study reviewed the use of parasites as markers of human evolutionary history, and pointed out that five parasites of humans (lice, tapeworms, follicle mites, a protozoan, and bedbugs) have closely related taxonomic pairs that suggest long periods of isolation for human populations.
In work funded by an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Reed used the parasitic lice of humans to show that primates and their parasitic lice have been co-evolving for at least the last 20 million years. One limitation of this study was reliance on a single gene history (i.e., mitochondrial DNA) to infer host evolutionary history. This proposal seeks to add nuclear markers to better evaluate the coevolutionary history of these lice and their human hosts. However, the addition of nuclear markers will also enable tests of hypotheses that were not possible with mitochondrial data alone.
This research will break new ground on several fronts, as the use of parasite data to infer host evolutionary history is still largely unexplored. Because single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data are not often used in non-model organisms, this work will help to refine their use for population genetic studies.
Lastly, this work will develop new analytical techniques for estimating population characteristics, such as "how long two populations have been reconnected after long separation." Specifically, Dr. Reed will use nuclear markers to determine how long these loci have been recombining. Each of these advancements will be beneficial to a large group of biologists.
Broader Impacts: The use of parasite data has not gained wide acceptance among anthropologists just yet. This work may change this trend by publishing in cross-disciplinary and anthropological journals when possible, and presenting these findings at anthropological meetings and symposia. Dr. Reed's research has been very successful in training young scientists to work in the field of evolutionary biology (especially those that are underrepresented in the sciences), and he expects to continue this trend with this project. This starter grant will also enable Dr. Reed's laboratory to achieve the rapid accumulation of nuclear loci (SNP and microsatellite data), which it currently lacks. This funding would be a great enhancement to a much larger group than just Dr. Reed's, as these facilities would be shared among many colleagues.
