Parasites in a hotspot: diversity and specificity patterns of apicomplexans infecting reptiles from the Socotra Archipelago

Tomé, Beatriz; Maia, João P.; Perera, Ana; Carranza, Salvador; Vasconcelos, Raquel

doi:10.1017/s0031182020002000

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(81 reference statements)

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“…The third haplotype identified was previously reported by Tomé et al ( 2013 ) from Psammophis sibilans in North Africa and was also included in the snake group previously mentioned. This result followed the idea that some Hepatozoon parasites are not host-specific (Maia et al 2016b ; Tomé et al 2021 ). The apparent switch of host genus may be facilitated by the hosts similarity (both are snakes), and therefore it is assumed that they will have more similar immune defenses to deal with (Medeiros et al 2013 ; Maia et al 2016b ; Clark and Clegg 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Molecular characterization of haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles

et al. 2023

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The knowledge of the diversity and geographic distribution of parasite species is the first step towards understanding processes of global epidemiology and species conservation. Despite recent increases in research on haemosporidian and haemogregarine parasites of reptiles and amphibians, we still know little about their diversity and parasite-host interactions, especially in the Iberian Peninsula, where a few studies have been conducted. In this study, the haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity and phylogenetic relationships of the parasites in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles were assessed using PCR approaches on blood samples of 145 individuals from five amphibian and 13 reptile species. The amphibians did not present any of both groups of parasites studied. Regarding reptiles, five Hepatozoon, one Haemogregarina, and one Haemocystidum haplotypes were found infecting four different species, revealing new host records for these parasites. Among them, we found one new Haemocystidium haplotype and three new and a previously reported Hepatozoon haplotype from a north African snake. The latter finding suggests that some Hepatozoon parasites may not be host-specific and have large geographic ranges even crossing geographical barriers. These results increased the knowledge about the geographic distribution and the number of known host species of some reptile apicomplexan parasites, highlighting the great unexplored diversity of them in this region.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Molecular characterization of haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles

et al. 2023

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“…The third haplotype identi ed was previously reported by Tomé et al (2013) from Psammophis sibilans in North Africa and was also included in the snake group previously mentioned. This result followed the idea that some Hepatozoon parasites are not host-speci c (Maia et al 2016b;Tomé et al 2021). The apparent switch of host genus may be facilitated by the hosts similarity (both are snakes), and therefore it is assumed that they will have more similar immune defences to deal with (Medeiros et al 2013;Maia et al 2016b; Clark and Clegg 2017).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Molecular characterization of haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles

Parejo-Pulido

Mora-Rubio

Marzal

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The knowledge of the diversity and geographic distribution of parasite species is the first step towards understanding processes of global epidemiology and species conservation. Despite recent increases in research on reptiles and amphibians haemosporidian and haemogregarine parasites, we still know little about their diversity and parasite-host interactions, especially in the Iberian Peninsula, where a few studies have been conducted. In this study, the haemosporidian and hemogregarine diversity and phylogenetic relationships of southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles were assessed using PCR approaches on 145 blood samples. The amphibians did not present any of both groups of parasites studied. Regarding the reptile species, six Hepatozoon and one Haemocystidum haplotypes were found infecting four different species, revealing new host records for these parasites. Among them, we found one new isolate Haemocystidium haplotype and three new isolates and a previously reported Hepatozoon haplotype from a north African snake. This finding suggests that some Hepatozoon parasites may not be host-specific and have large geographic ranges even crossing geographical barriers. These results increased the geographic distribution and the number of known host species of some reptile apicomplexan parasites, highlighting the great unexplored diversity of them in this region.

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“…socotrana ). These unnamed species were closely related to other unnamed Sarcocystis that used lizards, lacertids, geckos, and reptiles as IHs (e.g., M. monspessulanus , P. schokari ; see ( 23 )), but they are all different from S . moreliae sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Sarcocystis moreliae sp. nov. in the imported green tree python Morelia cf. viridis (Reptilia, Pythonidae)

Máca

González-Solís

2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Species of Sarcocystis use various vertebrates as intermediate or definitive hosts in their life cycles. One of these is snakes, whose role as intermediate hosts for these protozoans is scarce; in fact, there are six records, but only three with molecular characterization. An imported green tree python was involved in the morphological and molecular characterization (four loci) of a new species of Sarcocystis localized in skeletal muscles. Sarcocystis moreliae sp. nov. has a type 1 sarcocyst with a smooth wall and is genetically similar (at the 18S rRNA gene) to two unnamed species of Sarcocystis found in Lytorhynchus diadema from Oman and Varanus salvator macromaculatus from Malaysia, but their detailed comparison is impossible. The new species showed lower similarity to its congeners in other loci (28S rRNA, ITS1, and cox1). This is the first morphological and genetic characterization of a Sarcocystis species in snakes of the genus Morelia, particularly M. viridis, using four loci, but more data are needed to fill the knowledge gap about snakes as intermediate hosts of Sarcocystis.

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Parasites in a hotspot: diversity and specificity patterns of apicomplexans infecting reptiles from the Socotra Archipelago

Cited by 8 publications

References 49 publications

Molecular characterization of haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles

Molecular characterization of haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles

Molecular characterization of haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles

Sarcocystis moreliae sp. nov. in the imported green tree python Morelia cf. viridis (Reptilia, Pythonidae)

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