Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Avenida Pres. Dutra, 2965, 76801-058 Porto Velho, RO, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz Rondônia, Rua da Beira, 7671, 76812-245 Porto Velho, RO, Brazil.
An Acad Bras Cienc. 2023 May 29;95(suppl 1):e20220115. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765202320220115. eCollection 2023.
Based on the genetic, morphological, and morphometric data of blood gamonts, we identified Hepatozoon parasites in colubrid snakes sampled in the Eastern Amazon region. Hepatozoon trigeminum was detected in the mussurana snake Clelia clelia and exhibited wide and elongated gamonts (mean dimensions: 14.25±0.65 × 4.31±0.43 μm) with an evident parasitophorous vacuole. Hepatozoon odwyerae sp. nov. was described in the indigo snake Drymarchon corais, whose gamonts have elongated and thin bodies (mean dimensions: 13.41±0.79 × 3.72±0.35 μm) with one end more tapered than the other. Phylogenetic analyses, based on the amplification of a 441 bp fragment of the 18S rRNA gene, revealed that the novel sequences of Hepatozoon spp. from our study were closely related to hemogregarine lineages found in lizards and snakes from Brazil, forming a well-supported monophyletic clade with them. The present study provides the first species description of Hepatoozon in D. corais and a new record of a host species for C. clelia using the integrated taxonomic data. We also highlight the importance of further investigations into the diversity of Hepatozoon in snakes, a rich but underestimated group of parasites, especially in the Amazonian biome.
基于血孢子虫的遗传、形态和形态计量学数据，我们在东亚马孙地区采集的蛇类中鉴定出了肝孢子虫。在 mussurana 蛇 Clelia clelia 中检测到了 H. trigeminum，其滋养体宽大而细长（平均尺寸：14.25±0.65×4.31±0.43μm），具有明显的寄生空泡。在蓝蛇 Drymarchon corais 中描述了新种 Hepatozoon odwyerae sp. nov.，其滋养体呈细长而薄的体（平均尺寸：13.41±0.79×3.72±0.35μm），一端比另一端更细。基于 18S rRNA 基因 441bp 片段扩增的系统发育分析表明，本研究中肝孢子虫的新序列与巴西蜥蜴和蛇类中的血鞭毛体谱系密切相关，与它们形成了一个支持良好的单系群。本研究首次描述了 D. corais 中的 H. odwyerae，并结合综合分类学数据记录了 C. clelia 的新宿主物种。我们还强调了进一步研究蛇类中肝孢子虫多样性的重要性，这是一个丰富但被低估的寄生虫群体，特别是在亚马逊生物群系中。
