Multiple geographic origins of commensalism and complex dispersal history of black rats

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Aplin, Ken P., Suzuki, Hitoshi, Chinen, Alejandro A., Chesser, R. Terry, Have, José Ten, Donnellan, Stephen C., Austin, Jeremy, Frost, Angela, Gonzalez, Jean-Paul, Herbreteau, Vincent, Catzeflis, François, Soubrier, Julien, Fang, Yin-Ping, Robins, Judith, Matisoo-Smith, Elisabeth, Bastos, Amanda D.S., Maryanto, Ibnu, Sinaga, Martua H., Denys, Christiane, van den Bussche, Ronald A., Conroy, Chris, Rowe, Kevin, Cooper, Alan
• Other Authors: Australian National Wildlife Collection, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Canberra (CSIRO), Graduate School of Environmental Science Sapporo, Hokkaido University Sapporo, Japan, Smithsonian Institution, Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR), Australian Government Department of Health, South Australian Museum, and Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity, University of Adelaide, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, Conditions et territoires d'émergence des maladies : dynamiques spatio-temporelles de l'émergence, évolution, diffusion/réduction des maladies, résistance et prémunition des hôtes (CTEM), UMR 228 Espace-Dev, Espace pour le développement, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Avignon Université (AU)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Université de Guyane (UG)-Université des Antilles (UA), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), National Chiayi University (NCYU), Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland Auckland, Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology, University of Otago Dunedin, Nouvelle-Zélande, Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria South Africa, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) & Museum Bogoriense, Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Zoology, Oklahoma State University Stillwater (OSU), Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Berkeley, University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: [SDV.EE.SANT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Health; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://ird.hal.science/ird-00714383; https://ird.hal.science/ird-00714383/document; https://ird.hal.science/ird-00714383/file/Aplin_Black_rat_cytb_PLoSOne_2011.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0026357

International audience The Black Rat (Rattus rattus) spread out of Asia to become one of the world's worst agricultural and urban pests, and a reservoir or vector of numerous zoonotic diseases, including the devastating plague. Despite the global scale and inestimable cost of their impacts on both human livelihoods and natural ecosystems, little is known of the global genetic diversity of Black Rats, the timing and directions of their historical dispersals, and the risks associated with contemporary movements. We surveyed mitochondrial DNA of Black Rats collected across their global range as a first step towards obtaining an historical genetic perspective on this socioeconomically important group of rodents. We found a strong phylogeographic pattern with well-differentiated lineages of Black Rats native to South Asia, the Himalayan region, southern Indochina, and northern Indochina to East Asia, and a diversification that probably commenced in the early Middle Pleistocene. We also identified two other currently recognised species of Rattus as potential derivatives of a paraphyletic R.rattus. Three of the four phylogenetic lineage units within R. rattus show clear genetic signatures of major population expansion in prehistoric times, and the distribution of particular haplogroups mirrors archaeologically and historically documented patterns of human dispersal and trade. Commensalism clearly arose multiple times in R. Rattus and in widely separated geographic regions, and this may account for apparent regionalism in their associated pathogens. Our findings represent an important step towards deeper understanding the complex and influential relationship that has developed between Black Rats and humans, and invite a thorough re-examination of host-pathogen associations among Black Rats.