Community Relationships of Avian Malaria Parasites in Southern Missouri

Abstract

We studied the organization and temporal stability of an assemblage of malaria parasites (genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) and their passerine avian hosts in a forested study area in southern Missouri, USA, over four years. We detected parasite infections by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of parasite DNA from host blood samples and identified parasite lineages by sequencing a part of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. We obtained 757 blood samples from 42 host species. Prevalence of malaria parasitism judged by PCR averaged 38.6% and varied in parallel in the three most abundant host species over the four years of the study. Parasite prevalence bore a U‐shaped relationship to host sample size. Prevalence was weakly positively associated with host body mass, but not with foraging stratum, nest height, nest type, plumage brightness, or sexual dichromatism. Over the sample as a whole, parasite prevalence did not vary between males and females or between hatch‐year and older individuals. We differentiated 34 parasite lineages. The number of host species per lineage varied from one to eight and increased with sample size. We recovered up to 14 lineages of parasite from a single host. Three relatively common lineages in the Ozarks were found nowhere else; four others were recovered from other sites in eastern North America; and six additional well‐sampled lineages were distributed in the Greater Antilles among resident island host species. Parasites that are endemic among native species of hosts on the tropical wintering grounds of Ozark birds were recovered from hatch‐year birds in the Ozarks, indicating that transmission takes place on the summer breeding grounds, and consequently, that suitable vectors are present in both the temperate and tropical portions of the parasite lineage distributions. We estimate that the number of parasite lineages within a local area will approximate the number of host species and that our perception of host breadth and parasite diversity will increase for most lineages and hosts with increased sampling. Thus, host–parasite relationships in a local area, including the role of parasites in sexual selection and the evolutionary maintenance of sex, are likely to be complex, with population and evolutionary dynamics involving many actors.

Morphological versus molecular identification of avian Haemosporidia: an exploration of three species concepts

“…Some studies conclude that a single or very few base pair differences in the cytochrome b gene observed among infections of avian haemosporidian parasites may reveal cryptic species (Bensch et al 2004 ;Ricklefs et al 2005). Many other studies treat a single base difference among parasite isolates as presumably non-recombining ' lineages' (for example, Bensch et al (2000), Waldenstrom et al (2002), Fallon et al (2005)).…”

Blood parasites in noddies and boobies from Brazilian offshore islands – differences between species and influence of nesting habitat

“…Genetic methods using PCR can detect infections missed by blood smears (e.g. Feldman and Freed 1995;Bensch et al 2000;Perkins and Schall, 2002;Ricklefs et al 2005;Parker et al 2006;Merino et al 2008). PCR has also been shown to be more sensitive than microscopic-based diagnosis of Babesia spp.…”

Host compatibility rather than vector–host-encounter rate determines the host range of avian Plasmodium parasites

“…Patterns of avian Plasmodium host range are highly idiosyncratic [26][27][28][29]38,41]. Plasmodium parasites are non-randomly distributed across host species, typically infecting only a subset of available hosts [26,28].…”

“…Plasmodium parasites are non-randomly distributed across host species, typically infecting only a subset of available hosts [26,28]. Some avian Plasmodium taxa are nearly restricted to a single host species [29,32]. In addition, these relationships can vary geographically, and Plasmodium parasites may occur on different hosts across their range [28,41].…”