Microphallus pseudopygmaeus (Digenea) infects phylogenetically distant gastropods, with signs of host-linked genetic divergence.

Alina I Sokolova, Kirill V Galaktionov, Anna Gonchar

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Parasite (Paris, France), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Alina I SokolovaDepartment of Invertebrate Zoology, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia - Laboratory of Parasitic Worms and Protists, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russia.ORCID 0009-0002-4896-459X

Kirill V GalaktionovDepartment of Invertebrate Zoology, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia - Laboratory of Parasitic Worms and Protists, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russia.ORCID 0000-0003-1897-6709

Anna GoncharDepartment of Invertebrate Zoology, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia - Laboratory of Parasitic Worms and Protists, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russia.ORCID 0000-0002-1350-5230

Funding

Russian Science Foundation 23-14-00329State Academic Program, Russia 125012800903-5

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Host-switching between distantly related host species offers rare insight into how parasites overcome compatibility barriers and initiate evolutionary divergence. Microphallus pseudopygmaeus is exceptional among digeneans in its ability to infect gastropods from two distantly related subclasses, Vetigastropoda and Caenogastropoda. This study aimed to test the hypothesis about the species status of M. pseudopygmaeus and clarify its host range. We obtained partial sequences of the cox1 gene, 28S rDNA and ITS2 for M. pseudopygmaeus from nine host species, including Margarites spp. (Vetigastropoda). The data on the conservative and variable markers, phylogenetic and barcoding gap analyses, supported the unity of the species and its broad specificity to the first intermediate hosts. The cox1-based haplotype network revealed host-associated genetic divergence, particularly in isolates from Margarites spp. and Cryptonatica affinis. This pattern may result from localized circulation of the parasite in the regions where certain host species, such as Margarites spp., dominate in the absence of periwinkles, creating ecological conditions that could promote reproductive isolation and incipient speciation. This work opens up the prospects of using M. pseudopygmaeus as a model for studying host-switching and speciation in parasites.

Indexed as

GastropodaGenetic VariationHost SpecificityTrematodaAnimalsCyclooxygenase 1DNA, HelminthDNA, Ribosomal SpacerElectron Transport Complex IVHaplotypesHost-Parasite InteractionsPhylogenyRNA, Ribosomal, 28SSpecies SpecificityCyclooxygenase 1DNA, HelminthDNA, Ribosomal SpacerElectron Transport Complex IVRNA, Ribosomal, 28SFirst intermediate hostHost specificityHost switchingIntraspecific divergenceSpeciation

Identifiers

PMID41910177

DOI10.1051/parasite/2026016

PMCPMC13034682

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.