A new species of Hepatozoon Miller, 1908 (Apicomplexa: Adelerina) from the snake Philodryas nattereri Steindachner (Squamata: Dipsadidae) in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Based on both unique morphological characteristics of the gamont, distinct changes caused to the host erythrocyte and analysis of partial 18S rRNA gene sequences, a new parasite of the genus Hepatozoon Miller, 1908 is described from the snake Philodryas nattereri Steindachner (Squamata: Dipsadidae) in northeastern Brazil. The new species, Hepatozoon musa n. sp., is characterized by large and curved mature gamonts (18.9 ± 0.9 μm in length and 3.8 ± 0.3 μm in width) that considerably engorge infected host erythrocytes and displace the nucleus laterally, which become longer and thinner. Phylogenetic estimates indicate the new species is more closely related to the recently described Hepatozoon cuestensis O'Dwyer, Moço, Paduan, Spenassatto, Silva & Ribolla, 2013, from Brazilian rattlesnakes. These recent findings highlight the need for further studies of Hepatozoon to better determine the biodiversity of this common but poorly-studied parasite group.

Endemic, exotic and novel apicomplexan parasites detected during a national study of ticks from companion animals in Australia

“…All Babesia and Theileria species sequenced in this study were ≤ 96.4% and ≤ 93.3% similar to the most closely related named species, respectively, with the exception of B. mackerrasorum , which was 98.3% similar to B. macropus (JQ437265) . The highest pairwise similarity for the novel Hepatozoon species compared to named Hepatozoon species was 96.6%, which is less than the pairwise identity of the recently described Hepatozoon musa Borges-Nojosa, 2017 to its most closely related described species (~99% similar) [ 26 ].…”

Phylogenetic analysis of apicomplexan parasites infecting commercially valuable species from the North-East Atlantic reveals high levels of diversity and insights into the evolution of the group

“…[ 36 ]) and even within individuals ( Eimeria meleagrimitis , 2.3% [ 37 ]). However, many studies have shown that the existence of paralogs are not common, but rather the exception [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Two new species of Hepatozoon (Apicomplexa: Hepatozoidae) parasitising species of Philothamnus (Ophidia: Colubridae) from South Africa

“…However, it does emphasise the need to provide descriptions based on a combination of morphology and molecular data, which has been highlighted by numerous authors, e.g. Cook et al (2016), Tomé et al (2016) and Borges-Nojosa et al (2017). Moreover, it is anticipated that a multigene approach will prove useful in resolving the diversity, phylogeny and taxonomy of the paraphyletic Hepatozoon, as has been used in the analyses of the haemoproteids and eimeriid coccidia (Pineda-Catalan et al 2013, Ogedengbe et al 2015.…”

“…are intraerythrocytic or intraleucocytic apicomplexan parasites that are frequently described from amphibian and reptilian hosts (Smith 1996, Cook et al 2014a). However, as highlighted by Borges-Nojosa et al (2017), the diversity and systematics of these apicomplexans are still poorly understood. The genus Hepatozoon is paraphyletic based on estimated relationships using 18S rRNA gene sequences, the genus Karyolysus Labbé, 1894, and in some analyses Hemolivia Petit, Landau, Baccam et Lainson, 1990, as well, forming a lineage within Hepatozoon (see Barta et al 2012, Haklová-Kočíková et al 2014, Kvičerová et al 2014, Cook et al 2016.…”

“…Recently, a new genus, Bartazoon Karadjian, Chavatte et Landau, 2015, was erected as part of a taxonomic revision to try resolve the phylogeny and associated taxonomy of these haemogregarines, the new genus including species from reptiles that were previously included in Hepatozoon (see Karadjian et al 2015). However, the monophyly of Bartazoon is not well supported and with all the molecular evidence provided for by the use of a single gene it is at this time premature to consider such taxonomic changes (Maia et al 2016, Borges-Nojosa et al 2017. Thus, following Borges-Nojosa et al's (2017) recommendation we will conservatively persist in referring to species parasitising reptiles as Hepatozoon.…”