High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment?
Toxoplasma gondii causes one of the most frequent parasitic infections in vertebrates on earth. The present study aimed to assess the occurrence of T. gondii infection in cat-hunted wild small mammals, and to determine the circulating T. gondii genotypes in cat prey. There is evidence suggesting tha...
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2023
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ftunivzuerich:oai:www.zora.uzh.ch:251447 2024-06-23T07:54:38+00:00 High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? Pardo Gil, Miguel Hegglin, Daniel Briner, Thomas Ruetten, Maja Müller, Norbert Moré, Gastón Frey, Caroline F Deplazes, Peter Basso, Walter 2023-04-01 application/pdf https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/251447/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/251447/1/ZORA_Pardo_Gil_T_gondii_in_cat_hunted_small_mammals_2023_IJP.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-251447 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.01.007 eng eng Elsevier https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/251447/1/ZORA_Pardo_Gil_T_gondii_in_cat_hunted_small_mammals_2023_IJP.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-251447 doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.01.007 info:pmid/36747510 urn:issn:2213-2244 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Pardo Gil, Miguel; Hegglin, Daniel; Briner, Thomas; Ruetten, Maja; Müller, Norbert; Moré, Gastón; Frey, Caroline F; Deplazes, Peter; Basso, Walter (2023). High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 20:108-116. Institute of Parasitology 600 Technology 610 Medicine & health 570 Life sciences biology Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology Journal Article PeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2023 ftunivzuerich https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-25144710.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.01.007 2024-06-05T00:27:42Z Toxoplasma gondii causes one of the most frequent parasitic infections in vertebrates on earth. The present study aimed to assess the occurrence of T. gondii infection in cat-hunted wild small mammals, and to determine the circulating T. gondii genotypes in cat prey. There is evidence suggesting that T. gondii may manipulate rodents' behaviour enhancing transmission to their definitive feline host by facilitating predation. Given that most studies focusing on rodent behavior have been performed under laboratory conditions, we tested this hypothesis in the natural environment. We analysed 157 cat-hunted wild small mammals of six different species from Switzerland. Brain and skeletal muscle samples from each animal were tested for T. gondii DNA by PCR, and positive samples were genotyped using a multilocus sequence typing approach, including 10 genetic markers. Additionally, to evaluate exposure to cat faeces, the presence of Taenia taeniaeformis metacestodes was investigated at necropsy. The prevalence of T. gondii in cat-hunted Arvicola amphibius s.l. was 11.1% (7/63), 14.6% (7/48) in Apodemus spp., 13.6% (3/22) in Myodes glareolus, 6.7% (1/15) in Crocidura russula, and 0% in Microtus arvalis (0/8) and Sorex sp. (0/1). All completely genotyped T. gondii parasites, exhibited the ToxoDB #3 genotype, a Type II variant. We additionally analysed 48 trap-captured A. amphibius s.l., which all tested negative for T. gondii infection, contrasting with the higher prevalence in cat-hunted A. amphibius s.l. (0% vs. 11.1%; p = 0.0176). Furthermore, T. taeniaeformis was detected in both groups, indicating widespread contamination with cat faeces in the sampled areas. These results provide evidence that T. gondii infected rodents are at higher risk to be predated by cats and therewith support the behaviour manipulation hypothesis. Article in Journal/Newspaper Microtus arvalis University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivzuerich |
language |
English |
topic |
Institute of Parasitology 600 Technology 610 Medicine & health 570 Life sciences biology Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology |
spellingShingle |
Institute of Parasitology 600 Technology 610 Medicine & health 570 Life sciences biology Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology Pardo Gil, Miguel Hegglin, Daniel Briner, Thomas Ruetten, Maja Müller, Norbert Moré, Gastón Frey, Caroline F Deplazes, Peter Basso, Walter High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? |
topic_facet |
Institute of Parasitology 600 Technology 610 Medicine & health 570 Life sciences biology Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology |
description |
Toxoplasma gondii causes one of the most frequent parasitic infections in vertebrates on earth. The present study aimed to assess the occurrence of T. gondii infection in cat-hunted wild small mammals, and to determine the circulating T. gondii genotypes in cat prey. There is evidence suggesting that T. gondii may manipulate rodents' behaviour enhancing transmission to their definitive feline host by facilitating predation. Given that most studies focusing on rodent behavior have been performed under laboratory conditions, we tested this hypothesis in the natural environment. We analysed 157 cat-hunted wild small mammals of six different species from Switzerland. Brain and skeletal muscle samples from each animal were tested for T. gondii DNA by PCR, and positive samples were genotyped using a multilocus sequence typing approach, including 10 genetic markers. Additionally, to evaluate exposure to cat faeces, the presence of Taenia taeniaeformis metacestodes was investigated at necropsy. The prevalence of T. gondii in cat-hunted Arvicola amphibius s.l. was 11.1% (7/63), 14.6% (7/48) in Apodemus spp., 13.6% (3/22) in Myodes glareolus, 6.7% (1/15) in Crocidura russula, and 0% in Microtus arvalis (0/8) and Sorex sp. (0/1). All completely genotyped T. gondii parasites, exhibited the ToxoDB #3 genotype, a Type II variant. We additionally analysed 48 trap-captured A. amphibius s.l., which all tested negative for T. gondii infection, contrasting with the higher prevalence in cat-hunted A. amphibius s.l. (0% vs. 11.1%; p = 0.0176). Furthermore, T. taeniaeformis was detected in both groups, indicating widespread contamination with cat faeces in the sampled areas. These results provide evidence that T. gondii infected rodents are at higher risk to be predated by cats and therewith support the behaviour manipulation hypothesis. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pardo Gil, Miguel Hegglin, Daniel Briner, Thomas Ruetten, Maja Müller, Norbert Moré, Gastón Frey, Caroline F Deplazes, Peter Basso, Walter |
author_facet |
Pardo Gil, Miguel Hegglin, Daniel Briner, Thomas Ruetten, Maja Müller, Norbert Moré, Gastón Frey, Caroline F Deplazes, Peter Basso, Walter |
author_sort |
Pardo Gil, Miguel |
title |
High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? |
title_short |
High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? |
title_full |
High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? |
title_fullStr |
High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? |
title_full_unstemmed |
High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? |
title_sort |
high prevalence rates of toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/251447/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/251447/1/ZORA_Pardo_Gil_T_gondii_in_cat_hunted_small_mammals_2023_IJP.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-251447 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.01.007 |
genre |
Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Microtus arvalis |
op_source |
Pardo Gil, Miguel; Hegglin, Daniel; Briner, Thomas; Ruetten, Maja; Müller, Norbert; Moré, Gastón; Frey, Caroline F; Deplazes, Peter; Basso, Walter (2023). High prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii in cat-hunted small mammals - Evidence for parasite induced behavioural manipulation in the natural environment? International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 20:108-116. |
op_relation |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/251447/1/ZORA_Pardo_Gil_T_gondii_in_cat_hunted_small_mammals_2023_IJP.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-251447 doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.01.007 info:pmid/36747510 urn:issn:2213-2244 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-25144710.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.01.007 |
_version_ |
1802646854252363776 |