Pan-American Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) trinaperronei n. sp. in the white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann and its deer ked Lipoptena mazamae Rondani, 1878: morphological, developmental and phylogeographical characterisation

Abstract

Background: The subgenus Megatrypanum Hoare, 1964 of Trypanosoma Gruby, 1843 comprises trypanosomes of cervids and bovids from around the world. Here, the white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann) and its ectoparasite, the deer ked Lipoptena mazamae Rondani, 1878 (hippoboscid fly), were surveyed for trypanosomes in Venezuela. Results: Haemoculturing unveiled 20% infected WTD, while 47% (7/15) of blood samples and 38% (11/29) of ked guts tested positive for the Megatrypanum-specific TthCATL-PCR. CATL and SSU rRNA sequences uncovered a single species of trypanosome. Phylogeny based on SSU rRNA and gGAPDH sequences tightly cluster WTD trypanosomes from Venezuela and the USA, which were strongly supported as geographical variants of the herein described Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) trinaperronei n. sp. In our analyses, the new species was closest to Trypanosoma sp. D30 from fallow deer (Germany), both nested into TthII alongside other trypanosomes from cervids (North American elk and European fallow, red and sika deer), and bovids (cattle, antelopes and sheep). Insights into the life-cycle of T. trinaperronei n. sp. were obtained from early haemocultures of deer blood and co-culture with mammalian and insect cells showing flagellates resembling Megatrypanum trypanosomes previously reported in deer blood, and deer ked guts. For the first time, a trypanosome from a cervid was cultured and phylogenetically and morphologically (light and electron microscopy) characterised. Conclusions: In the analyses based on SSU rRNA, gGAPDH, CATL and ITS rDNA sequences, neither cervids nor bovids trypanosomes were monophyletic but intertwined within TthI and TthII major phylogenetic lineages. One host species can harbour more than one species/genotype of trypanosome, but each trypanosome species/genotype was found in a single host species or in phylogenetically closely related hosts. Molecular evidence that L. mazamae may

Genetic diversity of cervid Trypanosoma theileri in Honshu sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Japan

“…Molecular research on T. theileri in cattle using the abovedescribed genetic markers has suggested that phylogenetic relationships among trypanosome sequences are congruent with phylogeny based on other gene sequences (Cortez et al, 2009;Garcia et al, 2020), although the resolution degree of lineages or population diversity differs based on the gene markers assessed in relation to the inherent nucleotide conservation/divergence as well as sequencing span. Consistently, molecular studies on T. theileri indicated that the species of bovine 'T.…”

“…4). Prior to this study, the characterization of T. trinaperronei as T. theileri-like trypanosomes in white-tailed deer across the North and Central Americans (Garcia et al, 2020) seemed reasonable, since trypanosomes of the TthII-related lineage of cervid trypanosomes ('T. cf.…”

“…Thus, in order to avoid taxonomic confusion, we propose that T. theileri and T. theileri-like trypanosomes in ruminants are classified solely as 'T. theileri', and are differentiated by lineage tags as has been recently done by various researchers (Rodrigues et al, 2006(Rodrigues et al, , 2010a(Rodrigues et al, , 2010bGarcia et al, 2011aGarcia et al, , 2011bGarcia et al, , 2020Ybañez et al, 2013;Weerasooriya et al, 2016). As far as retaining bovine 'T.…”

“…Modern molecular technology utilising various genetic markers has demonstrated a close evolutional relationship between T. theileri and Megatrypanum-type trypanosomes in wild ruminants (Rodrigues et al, 2003(Rodrigues et al, , 2006(Rodrigues et al, , 2010a(Rodrigues et al, , 2010bHamilton et al, 2005Hamilton et al, , 2009Gibson et al, 2010;Garcia et al, 2011aGarcia et al, , 2011bGarcia et al, , 2020Martinković et al, 2012;Fisher et al, 2013). In parallel, these studies have highlighted the genetic divergence of T. theileri and related Megatrypanum-type trypanosomes of different host and geographical origins based on multiple genetic markers such as the ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA), the glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) gene, the spliced leader RNA (SL) gene and cathepsin L-like cysteine protease (CatL-like) genes (Rodrigues et al, 2006(Rodrigues et al, , 2010a(Rodrigues et al, , 2010bGarcia et al, 2011aGarcia et al, , 2011bGarcia et al, , 2020Martinković et al, 2012;Yokoyama et al, 2015;Pacheco et al, 2018).…”

A new subspecies of Trypanosoma cyclops found in the Australian terrestrial leech Chtonobdella bilineata

“…kinetoplast situated near the nucleus, far from the cells anterior) (Hoare, 1972). The subgenus Megatrypanum is however now restricted to those large trypanosomes found in ungulates, such as T. theileri (Garcia et al ., 2020).…”