Polychromophilus spp. (Haemosporida) in Malagasy bats: host specificity and insights on invertebrate vectors
Abstract Background Bats are home to diverse haemosporidian parasites namely Plasmodium and Plasmodium-related. While information is available at a worldwide level, haemosporidian infection in bats from Madagascar is still scarce and recent changes in the taxonomy of the island’s bat fauna, particul...
| Published in: | Malaria Journal |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2018
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2461-8 https://doaj.org/article/d70dd565e0e1410d83172f79212ab358 |
| Summary: | Abstract Background Bats are home to diverse haemosporidian parasites namely Plasmodium and Plasmodium-related. While information is available at a worldwide level, haemosporidian infection in bats from Madagascar is still scarce and recent changes in the taxonomy of the island’s bat fauna, particularly the description of several new species, require a reassessment of previously described patterns, including blood parasite ecology and vectorial transmission. Methods A sample representing seven of the nine known bat families and 31 of the 46 currently recognized taxa from Madagascar and collected in the western and central portions of the island were screened by PCR for the presence of Polychromophilus. In addition, Nycteribiidae flies parasitizing Miniopteridae and Vespertilionidae were screened for parasites with the aim to better understand aspects of vector transmission. Phylogenetic reconstruction using the mitochondrial cytochrome b encoding gene was used in a Bayesian analysis to examine the relationship between Polychromophilus recovered from Malagasy bats and those identified elsewhere. Results Polychromophilus infection was restricted to Miniopterus spp. (Miniopteridae), Myotis goudoti (Vespertilionidae), and Paratriaenops furculus (Rhinonycteridae), with an overall infection rate of 13.5%. Polychromophilus melanipherus was found infecting Miniopterus spp. and P. furculus, whereas Polychromophilus murinus was only recovered from M. goudoti. These two protozoan parasites species were also detected in bat flies species known to parasitize Miniopterus spp. and M. goudoti, respectively. Generalized linear model analyses were conducted to elucidate the effect of species and sex on haemoparasites infection in Miniopterus spp., which revealed that males have higher risk of infection than females and prevalence differed according to the considered Miniopterus host. Molecular screening of nycteribiid flies revealed three positive species for Polychromophilus spp., including Penicillidia sp. (cf. fulvida), ... |
|---|