Circannual variation in blood parasitism in a sub‐Saharan migrant passerine bird, the garden warbler

Hellgren, Olof; Wood, Matthew J.; Waldenström, Jonas; Hasselquist, Dennis; Ottosson, Ulf; Stervander, Martin; Bensch, Staffan

doi:10.1111/jeb.12129

Cited by 40 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The relapse phenomenon is thought to be a parasite adaptation ensuring that parasites are only in the blood (where they are more exposed to host immune responses) when transmission is possible, and thus would be expected more for species with a well‐defined transmission season than those with persistent transmission (Hellgren et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Dispersal in a patchy landscape reveals contrasting determinants of infection in a wild avian malaria system

Knowles

Wood

Alves

et al. 2013

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary 1.Understanding exactly when, where and how hosts become infected with parasites is critical to understanding host-parasite co-evolution in natural populations. However, for host-parasite systems in which hosts or parasites are mobile, for example in vector-borne diseases, the spatial location of infection and the relative importance of parasite exposure at successive host lifehistory stages are often uncertain. 2. Here, using a 6-year longitudinal data set from a spatially referenced population of blue tits, we test the extent to which infection by avian malaria parasites is determined by conditions experienced at natal or breeding sites, as well as by postnatal dispersal between the two. 3. We show that the location and timing of infection differs markedly between two sympatric malaria parasite species. For one species (Plasmodium circumflexum), our analyses indicate that infection occurs after birds have settled on breeding territories, and because the distribution of this parasite is temporally stable across years, hosts born in malarious areas could in principle alter their exposure and potentially avoid infection through postnatal dispersal. Conversely, the spatial distribution of another parasite species (Plasmodium relictum) is unpredictable and infection probability is positively associated with postnatal dispersal distance, potentially indicating that infection occurs during this major dispersal event. 4. These findings suggest that hosts in this population may be subject to divergent selection pressures from these two parasites, potentially acting at different life-history stages. Because this implies parasite species-specific predictions for many coevolutionary processes, they also illustrate the complexity of predicting such processes in multi-parasite systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Dispersal in a patchy landscape reveals contrasting determinants of infection in a wild avian malaria system

Knowles

Wood

Alves

et al. 2013

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…To some extent, antibodies against the p19 epitopes can give the host cross-immunity to other malaria strains. In the bird-malaria parasite system it is common that bird species can be infected with a broad diversity of different malaria species and lineages [29-31]. Within this system, msp1 -p19 would be a promising target for investigating cross-immunity between different species and changes of this cross-immunity depending on the phylogenetic distance of the parasite.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and characterization of the merozoite surface protein 1 (msp1) gene in a host-generalist avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum (lineages SGS1 and GRW4) with the use of blood transcriptome

Hellgren

Kutzer

Bensch

et al. 2013

Malar J

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BackgroundThe merozoite surface protein 1 (msp1) is one of the most studied vaccine candidate genes in mammalian Plasmodium spp. to have been used for investigations of epidemiology, population structures, and immunity to infections. However methodological difficulties have impeded the use of nuclear markers such as msp1 in Plasmodium parasites causing avian malaria. Data from an infection transcriptome of the host generalist avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum was used to identify and characterize the msp1 gene from two different isolates (mtDNA lineages SGS1 and GRW4). The aim was to investigate whether the msp1 gene in avian malaria species shares the properties of the msp1 gene in Plasmodium falciparum in terms of block variability, conserved anchor points and repeat motifs, and further to investigate the degree to which the gene might be informative in avian malaria parasites for population and epidemiological studies.MethodsReads from 454 sequencing of birds infected with avian malaria was used to develop Sanger sequencing protocols for the msp1 gene of P. relictum. Genetic variability between variable and conserved blocks of the gene was compared within and between avian malaria parasite species, including P. falciparum. Genetic variability of the msp1 gene in P. relictum was compared with six other nuclear genes and the mtDNA gene cytochrome b.ResultsThe msp1 gene of P. relictum shares the same general pattern of variable and conserved blocks as found in P. falciparum, although the variable blocks exhibited less variability than P. falciparum. The variation across the gene blocks in P. falciparum spanned from being as conserved as within species variation in P. relictum to being as variable as between the two avian malaria species (P. relictum and Plasmodium gallinaceum) in the variable blocks. In P. relictum the highly conserved p19 region of the peptide was identified, which included two epidermal growth factor-like domains and a fully conserved GPI anchor point.ConclusionThis study provides protocols for evaluation of the msp1 gene in the avian malaria generalist parasite P. relictum. The msp1 gene in avian Plasmodium shares the genetic properties seen in P. falciparum, indicating evolutionary conserved functions for the gene. The data on the variable blocks of the gene show that the msp1 gene in P. relictum might serve as a good candidate gene for future population and epidemiological studies of the parasite.

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“…The development of new PCR-based methods [26,27] has allowed the documentation of dynamic changes in the communities of avian Plasmodium lineages within wild bird species populations [28-32] or individual hosts [33-36]. Whilst seasonal changes in host immunocompetence could explain the observed patterns of abundance and persistence of avian Plasmodium lineages in these studies, we do not know much about the role of natural vectors in the epidemiology of avian malaria [37-39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal changes in mosquito abundance (Culex pipiens), avian malaria prevalence and lineage composition

et al. 2013

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BackgroundKnowledge on the temporal dynamics of host/vector/parasite interactions is a pre-requisite to further address relevant questions in the fields of epidemiology and evolutionary ecology of infectious diseases. In studies of avian malaria, the natural history of Plasmodium parasites with their natural mosquito vectors, however, is mostly unknown.MethodsUsing artificial water containers placed in the field, we monitored the relative abundance of parous females of Culex pipiens mosquitoes during two years (2010–2011), in a population in western Switzerland. Additionally, we used molecular tools to examine changes in avian malaria prevalence and Plasmodium lineage composition in female C. pipiens caught throughout one field season (April-August) in 2011.ResultsC. pipiens relative abundance varied both between years and months, and was associated with temperature fluctuations. Total Plasmodium prevalence was high and increased from spring to summer months (13.1-20.3%). The Plasmodium community was composed of seven different lineages including P. relictum (SGS1, GRW11 and PADOM02 lineages), P. vaughani (lineage SYAT05) and other Plasmodium spp. (AFTRU5, PADOM1, COLL1). The most prevalent lineages, P. vaughani (lineage SYAT05) and P. relictum (lineage SGS1), were consistently found between years, although they had antagonistic dominance patterns during the season survey.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the time window of analysis is critical in evaluating changes in the community of avian malaria lineages infecting mosquitoes. The potential determinants of the observed changes as well as their implications for future prospects on avian malaria are discussed.

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Circannual variation in blood parasitism in a sub‐Saharan migrant passerine bird, the garden warbler

Cited by 40 publications

References 51 publications

Dispersal in a patchy landscape reveals contrasting determinants of infection in a wild avian malaria system

Dispersal in a patchy landscape reveals contrasting determinants of infection in a wild avian malaria system

Identification and characterization of the merozoite surface protein 1 (msp1) gene in a host-generalist avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum (lineages SGS1 and GRW4) with the use of blood transcriptome

Temporal changes in mosquito abundance (Culex pipiens), avian malaria prevalence and lineage composition

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