PCR-based methods have been increasingly used in diagnosis of parasitic diseases. Over 40 morphospecies of avian malaria parasites of the genus Plasmodium have been described. However, only nine of them have been identified on the level of their mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene lineages, which are frequently used in molecular biology studies of avian blood haemosporidian parasites. In this study, we linked two common mitochondrial cyt b lineages P-SGS1 and P-TURDUS1 with their morphospecies. Light infections with two species of malaria parasites of the subgenera Haemamoeba and Giovannolaia were isolated from naturally infected adult Hawfinches, Coccothraustes coccothraustes Linnaeus, on the Curonian Spit in the Baltic Sea. These parasites were inoculated to naive juveniles of the Common Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra Linnaeus, and House Sparrow, Passer domesticus Linnaeus. Heavy parasitemia of Plasmodium (Haemamoeba) relictum Grassi & Feletti, 1891 (lineage P-SGS1) and Plasmodium (Giovannolaia) circumflexum Kikuth, 1931 (P-TURDUS1) developed in the subinoculated Common Crossbills and House Sparrows, respectively, which enabled the detailed illustration of all main blood stages of these parasites and the deposition of their voucher specimens. The parasites of both lineages are actively transmitted in Europe and inhabit a broad range of avian hosts. Lineages closely related to P. relictum and P. circumflexum were identified. This study contributes to establishing of combined PCR-based and morphological identification of avian malaria parasites.

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The effect of initial Haemoproteus belopolskyi infection on the weight of its natural host, the blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, was investigated. Fourteen blackcap nestlings were taken at the age of 4-5 days and raised by hand in the laboratory. They were free of blood parasites. Seven 20- to 21-day-old nestlings were infected experimentally by inoculation in their pectoral muscle with approximately 45 sporozoites, which had developed in the experimentally infected biting midge Culicoides impunctatus. Seven nestlings were used as negative controls. Parasitemia developed in 6 inoculated nestlings, with a prepatent period of 11-12 days. No infections were detected in the controls during this study. The weight of experimentally infected and control birds was measured 2 days before parasitemia became patent and for a 45-day period after patency. Blood smears were prepared from all birds on the days when they were weighed. When compared with controls, there was a significant weight loss of experimentally infected blackcaps during 6 days after the decline of parasitemia at 10-16 days of patency, indicating a short-term influence of the infection on the birds' body mass. Clinical symptoms of the infection were not recorded. All birds from both groups survived until the end of the experiment.

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We studied the karyotypes of 8 dragonfly species originating from the Curonian Spit (the Baltic Sea, Russia) using C-banding and FISH with 18S rDNA and “insect” telomeric (TTAGG)_n probes. Our results show that Leucorrhinia rubicunda, Libellula depressa, L. quadrimaculata, Orthetrum cancellatum, Sympetrum danae, and S. vulgatum from the family Libellulidae, as well as Cordulia aenea and Epitheca bimaculata from the family Corduliidae share 2n = 25 (24 + X) in males, with a minute pair of m-chromosomes being present in every karyotype except for that of C. aenea. Major rDNA clusters are located on one of the large pairs of autosomes in all the species. No hybridization signals were obtained by FISH with the (TTAGG)_n probe in the examined species with the only exception of S. vulgatum. In this species, clear signals were detected at the ends of almost all chromosomes. This finding raises the possibility that in Odonata the canonical “insect” (TTAGG)_n telomeric repeat is in fact present but in very low copy number and is consequently difficult to detect by in situ hybridization. We conclude that more work needs to be done to answer questions about the organization of telomeres in this very ancient and thus phylogenetically important insect order.