Summary: | Nematodes of the genus <i>Macropostrongyloides</i> inhabit the large intestines or stomachs of macropodid (kangaroos and wallabies) and vombatid (wombats) marsupials. This study established the relationships of seven species of <i>Macropostrongyloides</i> using mitochondrial (mt) protein amino acid sequence data sets. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that species of <i>Macropostrongyloides</i> (<i>M. lasiorhini</i>, <i>M. baylisi</i>, <i>M. yamagutii</i>, <i>M. spearei</i>, <i>M. mawsonae</i> and <i>M. woodi</i>) from the large intestines of their hosts formed a monophyletic assemblage with strong nodal support to the exclusion of <i>M. dissimilis</i> from the stomach of the swamp wallaby. Furthermore, the mitochondrial protein-coding genes provided greater insights into the diversity and phylogeny of the genus <i>Macropostrongyloides</i>; such data sets could potentially be used to elucidate the relationships among other parasitic nematodes of Australian marsupials.
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