Pinto C Miguel, Ocaña-Mayorga Sofía, Tapia Elicio E, Lobos Simón E, Zurita Alejandra P, Aguirre-Villacís Fernanda, MacDonald Amber, Villacís Anita G, Lima Luciana, Teixeira Marta M G, Grijalva Mario J, Perkins Susan L
Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador; Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America; Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America; The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, New York, United States of America; Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador; Tropical Disease Institute, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2015 Oct 14;10(10):e0139999. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139999. eCollection 2015.
The generalist parasite Trypanosoma cruzi has two phylogenetic lineages associated almost exclusively with bats-Trypanosoma cruzi Tcbat and the subspecies T. c. marinkellei. We present new information on the genetic variation, geographic distribution, host associations, and potential vectors of these lineages. We conducted field surveys of bats and triatomines in southern Ecuador, a country endemic for Chagas disease, and screened for trypanosomes by microscopy and PCR. We identified parasites at species and genotype levels through phylogenetic approaches based on 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) and cytochrome b (cytb) genes and conducted a comparison of nucleotide diversity of the cytb gene. We document for the first time T. cruzi Tcbat and T. c. marinkellei in Ecuador, expanding their distribution in South America to the western side of the Andes. In addition, we found the triatomines Cavernicola pilosa and Triatoma dispar sharing shelters with bats. The comparisons of nucleotide diversity revealed a higher diversity for T. c. marinkellei than any of the T. c. cruzi genotypes associated with Chagas disease. Findings from this study increased both the number of host species and known geographical ranges of both parasites and suggest potential vectors for these two trypanosomes associated with bats in rural areas of southern Ecuador. The higher nucleotide diversity of T. c. marinkellei supports a long evolutionary relationship between T. cruzi and bats, implying that bats are the original hosts of this important parasite.
泛嗜性寄生虫克氏锥虫有两个几乎仅与蝙蝠相关的系统发育谱系——克氏锥虫Tcbat和亚种克氏锥虫marinkellei。我们提供了关于这些谱系的遗传变异、地理分布、宿主关联和潜在传播媒介的新信息。我们在厄瓜多尔南部（恰加斯病的地方流行国家）对蝙蝠和锥蝽进行了实地调查，并通过显微镜检查和聚合酶链反应（PCR）筛选锥虫。我们通过基于18S核糖体RNA（18S rRNA）和细胞色素b（cytb）基因的系统发育方法，在物种和基因型水平上鉴定寄生虫，并对cytb基因的核苷酸多样性进行了比较。我们首次在厄瓜多尔记录到克氏锥虫Tcbat和克氏锥虫marinkellei，将它们在南美洲的分布扩展到了安第斯山脉西侧。此外，我们发现毛洞穴锥蝽和差异锥蝽与蝙蝠共栖。核苷酸多样性比较显示，克氏锥虫marinkellei的多样性高于与恰加斯病相关的任何克氏锥虫基因型。本研究结果增加了这两种寄生虫的宿主物种数量和已知地理范围，并表明了厄瓜多尔南部农村地区与蝙蝠相关的这两种锥虫的潜在传播媒介。克氏锥虫marinkellei较高的核苷酸多样性支持了克氏锥虫与蝙蝠之间长期的进化关系，这意味着蝙蝠是这种重要寄生虫的原始宿主。
