New paper out: Convergent parasites, contingent genomes

A new MIRevolution study published in Evolution asks whether parasites that independently evolve similar lifestyles also lose the same genes. Surprisingly, the answer is mostly no.

The team compared regulatory and housekeeping genes—including 921 conserved microRNA families—across 48 animal species representing 20 independent origins of parasitism. Despite striking ecological convergence, patterns of gene loss were shaped more strongly by evolutionary history than by parasitism itself.

The study was led by Alexander W. Clarke from Dartmouth College, who has visited the Fromm Lab in Tromsø. Co-authors also include Vanessa M. Paynter from the Fromm Lab and Pedro Martínez from the University of Barcelona, a long-standing collaborator and frequent visitor to the lab.

Read the paper:
Clarke, A. W. et al. (2026). Genomic Contingence Beneath Ecological Convergence: The Tempo and Mode of Gene Loss in Parasitic Bilaterians. Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpag126

The research was supported by the Trond Mohn Research Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway.