Link to bioRxiv paper:

http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.08.13.249938v1?rss=1

Authors: Doliwa, A., Dunthorn, M. E., Rassoshanska, E., Mahe, F., Bass, D., Ritter, C. D.

Abstract:

Microsporidia are obligate parasites that are closely related to Fungi. While the widely-known long-branch Microsporidia infect mostly animals, the hosts of short-branch Microsporidia are only partially characterized or not known at all. Here, we used network analyses from Neotropical rainforest soil metabarcoding data, to infer co-occurrences between environmental lineages of short-branch microsporidians and their potential hosts. We found significant co-occurrences with several taxa, especially with Apicomplexa, Cercozoa, Fungi, as well as some Metazoa. Our results are the first step to identify potential hosts of the environmental lineages of short-branch microsporidians, which can be targeted in future molecular and microscopic studies.

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