Parasite turnover zone at secondary contact: a new pattern in host-parasite population genetics

To obtain a more complete picture of secondary contact in P. serrata , in this study we analyze three patterns derived from metagenomic data of 26 louse specimens collected across the secondary contact zone: nuclear SNPs, complete mitochondrial genomes, and complete genomes of the symbiotic bacterium Legionella polyplacis . We use these analyses to retrieve two kinds of information. First, we compare nuclear (SNP) and maternally inherited markers (mitochondrial genomes, symbiont genomes) to demonstrate a narrow hybrid zone between the SW and SE lineages of the lice. Second, we address two possible causes of the SE/SW incompatibility suggested in our previous work.