Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats
Whereas some bird species are heavily affected by blood parasites in the wild, others reportedly are not. Seabirds, in particular, are often free from blood parasites, even in the presence of potential vectors. By means of polymerase chain reaction, we amplified a DNA fragment from the cytochrome b...
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Online Access: | https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/245 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0698-3 https://doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-192 |
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ftunivgiessen:oai:jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de:jlupub/245 2023-12-24T10:11:20+01:00 Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats Quillfeldt, Petra Martínez, Javier Hennicke, Janos Ludynia, Katrin Gladbach, Anja Masello, Juan F. Riou, Samuel Merino, Santiago 2010 application/pdf https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/245 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0698-3 https://doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-192 en eng https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0698-3 https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/245 http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-192 Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell 2.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ Avian hematozoa Blood parasites Hemoparasites Innate immunity Seabirds ddc:570 ddc:590 article 2010 ftunivgiessen https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0698-310.22029/jlupub-192 2023-11-26T23:24:50Z Whereas some bird species are heavily affected by blood parasites in the wild, others reportedly are not. Seabirds, in particular, are often free from blood parasites, even in the presence of potential vectors. By means of polymerase chain reaction, we amplified a DNA fragment from the cytochrome b gene to detect parasites of the genera Plasmodium, Leucocytozoon, and Haemoproteus in 14 seabird species, ranging from Antarctica to the tropical Indian Ocean. We did not detect parasites in 11 of these species, including one Antarctic, four subantarctic, two temperate, and four tropical species. On the other hand, two subantarctic species, thin-billed prions Pachyptila belcheri and dolphin gulls Larus scoresbii, were found infected. One of 28 thin-billed prions had a Plasmodium infection whose DNA sequence was identical to lineage P22 of Plasmodium relictum, and one of 20 dolphin gulls was infected with a Haemoproteus lineage which appears phylogenetically clustered with parasites species isolated from passeriform birds such as Haemoproteus lanii, Haemoproteus magnus, Haemoproteus fringillae, Haemoproteus sylvae, Haemoproteus payevskyi, and Haemoproteus belopolskyi. In addition, we found a high parasite prevalence in a single tropical species, the Christmas Island frigatebird Fregata andrewsi, where 56% of sampled adults were infected with Haemoproteus. The latter formed a monophyletic group that includes a Haemoproteus line from Eastern Asian black-tailed gulls Larus crassirostris. Our results are in agreement with those showing that (a) seabirds are poor in hemosporidians and (b) latitude could be a determining factor to predict the presence of hemosporidians in birds. However, further studies should explore the relative importance of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on parasite prevalence, in particular using phylogenetically controlled comparative analyses, systematic sampling and screening of vectors, and within-species comparisons. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen: JLUpub Antarctic Indian Naturwissenschaften 97 9 809 817 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen: JLUpub |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgiessen |
language |
English |
topic |
Avian hematozoa Blood parasites Hemoparasites Innate immunity Seabirds ddc:570 ddc:590 |
spellingShingle |
Avian hematozoa Blood parasites Hemoparasites Innate immunity Seabirds ddc:570 ddc:590 Quillfeldt, Petra Martínez, Javier Hennicke, Janos Ludynia, Katrin Gladbach, Anja Masello, Juan F. Riou, Samuel Merino, Santiago Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats |
topic_facet |
Avian hematozoa Blood parasites Hemoparasites Innate immunity Seabirds ddc:570 ddc:590 |
description |
Whereas some bird species are heavily affected by blood parasites in the wild, others reportedly are not. Seabirds, in particular, are often free from blood parasites, even in the presence of potential vectors. By means of polymerase chain reaction, we amplified a DNA fragment from the cytochrome b gene to detect parasites of the genera Plasmodium, Leucocytozoon, and Haemoproteus in 14 seabird species, ranging from Antarctica to the tropical Indian Ocean. We did not detect parasites in 11 of these species, including one Antarctic, four subantarctic, two temperate, and four tropical species. On the other hand, two subantarctic species, thin-billed prions Pachyptila belcheri and dolphin gulls Larus scoresbii, were found infected. One of 28 thin-billed prions had a Plasmodium infection whose DNA sequence was identical to lineage P22 of Plasmodium relictum, and one of 20 dolphin gulls was infected with a Haemoproteus lineage which appears phylogenetically clustered with parasites species isolated from passeriform birds such as Haemoproteus lanii, Haemoproteus magnus, Haemoproteus fringillae, Haemoproteus sylvae, Haemoproteus payevskyi, and Haemoproteus belopolskyi. In addition, we found a high parasite prevalence in a single tropical species, the Christmas Island frigatebird Fregata andrewsi, where 56% of sampled adults were infected with Haemoproteus. The latter formed a monophyletic group that includes a Haemoproteus line from Eastern Asian black-tailed gulls Larus crassirostris. Our results are in agreement with those showing that (a) seabirds are poor in hemosporidians and (b) latitude could be a determining factor to predict the presence of hemosporidians in birds. However, further studies should explore the relative importance of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on parasite prevalence, in particular using phylogenetically controlled comparative analyses, systematic sampling and screening of vectors, and within-species comparisons. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Quillfeldt, Petra Martínez, Javier Hennicke, Janos Ludynia, Katrin Gladbach, Anja Masello, Juan F. Riou, Samuel Merino, Santiago |
author_facet |
Quillfeldt, Petra Martínez, Javier Hennicke, Janos Ludynia, Katrin Gladbach, Anja Masello, Juan F. Riou, Samuel Merino, Santiago |
author_sort |
Quillfeldt, Petra |
title |
Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats |
title_short |
Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats |
title_full |
Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats |
title_fullStr |
Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from Antarctic to tropical habitats |
title_sort |
hemosporidian blood parasites in seabirds - a comparative genetic study of species from antarctic to tropical habitats |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/245 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0698-3 https://doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-192 |
geographic |
Antarctic Indian |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Indian |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0698-3 https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/245 http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-192 |
op_rights |
Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell 2.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0698-310.22029/jlupub-192 |
container_title |
Naturwissenschaften |
container_volume |
97 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
809 |
op_container_end_page |
817 |
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1786163478580428800 |