Exo-erythrocytic development of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites

Valkiūnas, Gediminas; Iezhova, Tatjana A.

doi:10.1186/s12936-017-1746-7

Cited by 108 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 156 publications

(289 reference statements)

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“…Once a parasite encounters a host species with which it previously had no or little co‐evolutionary history, it may end up with low intensities or even abortive infections (Valkiūnas & Iezhova, ). Alternatively, it may reach very high intensities that may kill the host before further transmission takes place.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, for some of the presumed host species there are only one or a few records of infections. Without data on infection intensities, it is difficult to tell whether these represent abortive infections, that is, the parasite cannot complete its development in the given host (Valkiūnas & Iezhova, ). While the prevalence of generalist avian haemosporidians has been established across multiple host species within specific locations (Clark & Clegg, ; Ellis et al., ; Huang, Dong, Zhang, & Zhang, ; Svensson‐Coelho et al., ), no previous studies have looked into both prevalence and infection intensities in the complete community of potential host species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Generalist haemosporidian parasites are better adapted to a subset of host species in a multiple host community

et al. 2018

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Parasites that can infect multiple host species are considered to be host generalists with low host specificity. However, whether generalist parasites are better adapted to a subset of their host species remains unknown. To elucidate this possibility, we compared the variation in prevalence and infection intensity among host species of three generalist parasite lineages belonging to the morphological species Haemoproteus majoris, in a natural bird community in southern Sweden. Prevalence in each host species was confirmed by nested PCR and DNA sequencing, and infection intensities were quantified using lineage-specific real-time qPCR. For two of the three lineages, we detected positive correlations between prevalence and infection intensity, indicating that these generalist parasites are better adapted to a subset of host species, which may have been more frequently encountered during the evolution of the parasite; we refer to these as main host species. For both lineages, the main host species were more phylogenetically related than expected by chance as revealed by strong phylogenetic signal in prevalence among hosts. By comparing our results with previous records of these parasites, we found that the host range of a generalist parasite can vary among different communities and may partly be shaped by the presence of other parasites. Our study reveals that generalist parasites may be specialized on a subset of their host species and it highlights the importance of considering infection intensity and host phylogeny when determining the host specificity of a parasite.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generalist haemosporidian parasites are better adapted to a subset of host species in a multiple host community

et al. 2018

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“…While the life cycle of both parasite genera involves development in blood cells, Haemoproteus is expected to cause less damage to blood cells. Merogony (asexual reproduction) of Haemoproteus occurs in other tissues, whereas Plasmodium multiplies also in red blood cells leading to their disintegration (Valkiūnas 2005; Valkiūnas and Iezhova 2017). Blood pathologies induced by parasitaemia are expected to increase demand for new blood cells (Schoenle et al 2017), which can be attained through higher number of cellular divisions, possibly leading to pronounced telomere erosion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-specific effects of parasites on telomere dynamics in a short-lived passerine—the blue tit

Sudyka

Podmokła

Drobniak

et al. 2019

Sci Nat

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Parasitic infections potentially drive host’s life-histories since they can have detrimental effects on host’s fitness. Telomere dynamics is a candidate mechanism to underlie life-history trade-offs and as such may correlate with observed fitness reduction in infected animals. We examined the relationship of chronic infection with two genera of haemosporidians causing avian malaria and malaria-like disease with host’s telomere length (TL) in a longitudinal study of free-ranging blue tits. The observed overall infection prevalence was 80% and increased with age, constituting a potentially serious selective pressure in our population. We found longer telomeres in individuals infected with a parasite causing lesser blood pathologies i.e. Haemoproteus compared to Plasmodium genus, but this only held true among males. Female TL was independent of the infection type. Our results indicate that parasitic infections could bring about other types of costs to females than to males with respect to TL. Additionally, we detected linear telomere loss with age, however a random regression analysis did not confirm significant heterogeneity in TL of first breeders and telomere shortening rates in further life.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00114-019-1601-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…The effects of each species on its host can be extremely variable, with some species causing severe anemia and death while others persist in barely detectable chronic infections (Palinauskas et al 2008; Dimitrov et al 2015; Valkiūnas and Iezhova 2017). Plasmodium parasites have traditionally been the primary focus of research due to their medical importance (Gardner et al 2002; Bozdech et al 2003; Otto et al 2010; Liu et al 2010; Mbengue et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delineation of the Genera Haemoproteus and Plasmodium Using RNA-Seq and Multi-gene Phylogenetics

et al. 2018

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Members of the order Haemosporida are protist parasites that infect mammals, reptiles and birds. This group includes the causal agents of malaria, Plasmodium parasites, the genera Leucocytozoon and Fallisia, as well as the species rich genus Haemoproteus with its two subgenera Haemoproteus and Parahaemoproteus. Some species of Haemoproteus cause severe disease in avian hosts, and these parasites display high levels of diversity worldwide. This diversity emphasizes the need for accurate evolutionary information. Most molecular studies of wildlife haemosporidians use a bar coding approach by sequencing a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. This method is efficient at differentiating parasite lineages but insufficient for accurate phylogenetic inferences in highly diverse taxa such as haemosporidians. Recent studies have utilized multiple mitochondrial genes (cyt b, cox1 and cox3), sometimes combined with a few apicoplast and nuclear genes. These studies have been highly successful with one notable exception: the evolutionary relationships of the genus Haemoproteus remain unresolved. Here we describe the transcriptome of Haemoproteus columbae and investigate its phylogenetic position recovered from a multi-gene dataset (600 genes). This genomic approach restricts the taxon sampling to 18 species of apicomplexan parasites. We employed Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods of phylogenetic analyses and found H. columbae and a representative from the subgenus Parahaemoproteus to be sister taxa. This result strengthens the hypothesis of genus Haemoproteus being monophyletic; however, resolving this question will require sequences of orthologs from, in particular, representatives of Leucocytozoon species.

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Exo-erythrocytic development of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites

Cited by 108 publications

References 156 publications

Generalist haemosporidian parasites are better adapted to a subset of host species in a multiple host community

Generalist haemosporidian parasites are better adapted to a subset of host species in a multiple host community

Sex-specific effects of parasites on telomere dynamics in a short-lived passerine—the blue tit

Delineation of the Genera Haemoproteus and Plasmodium Using RNA-Seq and Multi-gene Phylogenetics

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