Pedro Rodrigues, Claudio Navarrete, Elena Campos, Claudio Verdugo
Instituto de Patología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.
Programa de Investigación Aplicada en Fauna Silvestre, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.
Parasitol Res. 2019 Jan;118(1):325-333. doi: 10.1007/s00436-018-6146-6. Epub 2018 Nov 17.
Hemosporidian parasites rarely infect aquatic birds. Few studies have been conducted in South America identifying some lineages of the genera Plasmodium, Leucocytozoon, and Haemoproteus, but none has been done in the Neotropic cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus). This species is widely distributed through the American continent, from Southern USA to Tierra del Fuego, using a wide range of aquatic habitats. We molecularly studied the occurrence and diversity of hemosporidian lineages infecting individuals of Neotropic cormorant across a broad latitudinal gradient in Chile (Arica to Tierra del Fuego). As expected, a very low occurrence of individuals infected by Plasmodium sp. (4/123, 3.3%) and Leucocytozoon sp. (2/123, 1.6%) was detected. We found no evidence of Haemoproteus sp. We identified one lineage of Plasmodium (ZEMAC01) and one new lineage of Leucocytozoon (PHABRA01) infecting cormorants. Individuals infected by Plasmodium sp. were birds from only one site (i.e., Chillán), whereas Leucocytozoon sp. was found in one bird from Valdivia and another one from Tierra del Fuego. Our results expand the known range of hemosporidian parasite lineages in aquatic birds providing an essential baseline data that contribute to a better understanding of the geographic range of hemosporidian parasites infecting Phalacrocoracidae in South America.
血孢子虫寄生虫很少感染水鸟。在南美洲，很少有研究鉴定出疟原虫属、白细胞虫属和血变原虫属的一些谱系，但尚未对新热带鸬鹚（巴西鸬鹚）进行过此类研究。该物种广泛分布于美洲大陆，从美国南部到火地岛，利用多种水生栖息地。我们通过分子研究了在智利（从阿里卡到火地岛）广泛的纬度梯度上感染新热带鸬鹚个体的血孢子虫谱系的发生情况和多样性。正如预期的那样，检测到感染疟原虫属（4/123，3.3%）和白细胞虫属（2/123，1.6%）的个体发生率非常低。我们没有发现血变原虫属的证据。我们鉴定出一个感染鸬鹚的疟原虫谱系（ZEMAC01）和一个新的白细胞虫谱系（PHABRA01）。感染疟原虫属的个体仅来自一个地点（即奇廉）的鸟类，而白细胞虫属则在一只来自瓦尔迪维亚的鸟和另一只来自火地岛的鸟中被发现。我们的研究结果扩展了水鸟中血孢子虫寄生虫谱系的已知范围，提供了重要的基线数据，有助于更好地了解感染南美洲鸬鹚科的血孢子虫寄生虫的地理范围。
