Abstract
Hybridization of parasites is an emerging public health concern at the interface of infectious disease biology and evolution. Increasing economic development, human migration, global trade, and climate change are all shifting the geographic distribution of existing human, livestock, companion animal, and wildlife parasites [1–9]. As a result, human populations encounter new infections more frequently, and coinfection by multiple parasites from different lineages or species within individual hosts occurs. Coinfection may have a large impact on the hosts and parasites involved, often as a result of synergistic or antagonistic interactions between parasites [10]. Indeed, mixed-species coinfections have been found to influence parasite establishment, growth, maturation, reproductive success, and/or drug efficacy [11–13]. However, coinfections can allow for heterospecific (between-species or between-lineage) mate pairings, resulting in parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction in which eggs occur without fertilization), introgression (the introduction of single genes or chromosomal regions from one species into that of another through repeated backcrossing), and whole-genome admixture through hybridization [14].
Highlights
Modern genetics and genomics have uncovered the first confirmed cases of introgression within eukaryotic parasites [14,19]. Examples for such successful reticulate evolution in parasites include, but are not exclusive to, causative agents of important diseases initiated by fungi (Cryptococcus [20]), helminthic worms (Schistosoma, Fasciola, Ascaris, and Trichinella [21,22,23,24]), and protozoa (Plasmodium, Leishmania, Toxoplasma, and Trypanosoma [25,26,27,28,29,30,31]), as well as their vectors
We review some of the most recent advances in the detection of hybridization in eukaryotic parasites and discuss the significance of parasite hybridization for adaptive evolution and public health supported by relevant case studies in Schistosoma spp. (Box 1), Leishmania and Trypanosoma (Box 2), and the malaria vector Anopheles (Box 3)
Since multidrug resistance became a worldwide problem in pathogenic bacteria in the 1950s [54], we know that the exchange of genetic material via horizontal gene transfer among bacterial taxa has contributed to their evolution and pathogenesis [55,56]
Summary
Examples for such successful reticulate evolution in parasites include, but are not exclusive to, causative agents of important diseases initiated by fungi (Cryptococcus [20]), helminthic worms (Schistosoma, Fasciola, Ascaris, and Trichinella [21,22,23,24]), and protozoa (Plasmodium, Leishmania, Toxoplasma, and Trypanosoma [25,26,27,28,29,30,31]), as well as their vectors These cases involve introgression between members of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and/or neglected zoonotic diseases (NZDs)—highly debilitating diseases infecting more than a sixth of the world’s human population (and their livestock), with devastating consequences for individuals and communities.
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