Muriel Jaime, Graves Jeff A, Gil Diego, Magallanes S, Salaberria Concepción, Casal-López Miriam, Marzal Alfonso
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, E-28006, Madrid, Spain.
School of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9TH, UK.
Parasitol Res. 2018 Mar;117(3):919-928. doi: 10.1007/s00436-018-5748-3. Epub 2018 Jan 11.
We studied the prevalence and genetic diversity of malaria parasites in the poorly investigated spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) breeding in central Spain, aiming to describe the phylogenetic relationships among them and with other haemosporidians infecting the genus Sturnus. A total of 180 nestlings and 180 adult individuals from four different breeding seasons were screened for haemosporidian parasites using a nested PCR approach for the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus. Although the malaria prevalence ranged between years, the overall prevalence was 6.94%. Adults had a higher prevalence than chicks: 12.77 vs. 1.11%, respectively. We molecularly characterized avian malaria isolated in peripheral blood samples taken from malaria-infected individuals. Sequence analyses revealed four unique Plasmodium lineages of avian malaria (STURUNI01, STURUNI02, SYAT05, SGS1) in our spotless starling population. The phylogenetic analysis showed a well-supported clade comprised by STURUNI01, STURUNI02, and SYAT05. The most common lineage (SYAT05) has been previously found in 26 other avian host species, including populations of spotless starling in Portugal. Because this sedentary species is widely distributed throughout the Iberian Peninsula, we suggest that the local transmission of these lineages might place migratory birds at infection risk.
我们研究了在西班牙中部繁殖的鲜为人知的纯色椋鸟（Sturnus unicolor）体内疟原虫的流行情况和遗传多样性，旨在描述它们之间以及与感染椋鸟属的其他血孢子虫之间的系统发育关系。使用巢式PCR方法对疟原虫属和血变原虫属进行检测，对来自四个不同繁殖季节的180只雏鸟和180只成年个体进行血孢子虫寄生虫筛查。尽管疟原虫的流行率在不同年份有所不同，但总体流行率为6.94%。成年个体的流行率高于雏鸟：分别为12.77%和1.11%。我们对从感染疟疾的个体采集的外周血样本中分离出的禽疟原虫进行了分子特征分析。序列分析揭示了在我们的纯色椋鸟种群中有四种独特的禽疟原虫谱系（STURUNI01、STURUNI02、SYAT05、SGS1）。系统发育分析显示，由STURUNI01、STURUNI02和SYAT05组成的一个得到充分支持的进化枝。最常见的谱系（SYAT05）此前已在其他26种鸟类宿主中发现，包括葡萄牙的纯色椋鸟种群。由于这种定居物种广泛分布于伊比利亚半岛，我们认为这些谱系的本地传播可能使候鸟面临感染风险。
