Genomic insights into kin selection and developmental conflict in co-occurring hairworm parasites
Data files
Nov 24, 2025 version files 368.67 MB
Abstract
Many parasites manipulate the behaviour or appearance of their host to improve their own survival or transmission, with manipulation timing tightly linked to a parasite’s developmental stage. However, host manipulations are complicated by the presence of co-occurring parasites within the same host. Conspecific co-occurring parasites of similar developmental stages, may interact collaboratively to manipulate a host. However, co-occurring parasites of different developmental stages will conflict with one another- especially when the manipulation is fatal to developmentally immature co-occurring parasites. Kin selection further complicates these interactions by predicting that closely related co-occurring parasites may not interfere with the other’s manipulation. Co-occurring hairworm (Nematomorpha) parasites are common, and the water seeking manipulation mature worms induce is likely lethal to co-occurring juvenile worms. To understand the role that kin selection may have on these interactions we assess kin relationships in a wild hairworm population. We sequence the first New Zealand hairworm (Gordius paranensis) genome and use reduced representation sequencing to estimate relatedness among co-occurring worms. We show that co-occurring hairworm relatedness varies from unrelated to highly related and that both mature and immature worms inhabit the same host. We discuss how these developmental and kinship dynamics may shape host manipulations and hairworm survival.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.70rxwdcc2
Description of the data and file structure
Genome and gff files for the hairworm Gordius paranensis.
Step used to assemble and annotate the genome are available from here: GitHub - eddydowle/Hairworm_genome_and_kinrelationships: Code and scripts for hairworm genome and kinship estimate works
Raw reads are available from NCBI project code: PRJNA1234713. Genome ID JBMBTH000000000.
Files and variables
File: W136_annotation_full_swissprot_interproscan.gff
Description: gff annotation file
File: flye_W136_porechop_racon_medaka_purgeddup_scaff10x_tigmint_arcs_min50_hithairworm_rescues_rail_ragtag_nextpolish_renamed.fasta
Description: genome fasta file
Code/software
Code available from here:
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- Genome ID JBMBTH000000000
Data was derived from the following sources:
- Raw reads are available from NCBI project code: PRJNA1234713.
