Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Veterinárias (PPGVET), Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FAVET), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT), Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa, 2367, Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, MT 78060900, Brazil.
Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270901, Brazil.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports. 2024 Nov;56:101118. doi: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2024.101118. Epub 2024 Sep 24.
Haemosporidians are heteroxenous, cosmopolitan protozoa that infect birds, using hematophagous dipterans as vectors. The genus Plasmodium has a moderate species diversity and is known for great flexibility in alternating host species, mild to severe pathogenicity, and generally low prevalence. Plasmodium huffi was first described in 1950 and considered insufficiently characterized, however, in 2021, this species was re-described as infecting two different Brazilian toucans, Ramphastos toco and Pteroglossus aracari. Herein, we describe four new potential avian host species for P. huffi: Pavo cristatus, Cariama cristata, Rhea americana, and Porphyrio martinica by employing molecular diagnostics and conducting phylogenetic analysis, providing the detection of the RTCE206 and PACE173 lineages of P. huffi, previously described in Toco Toucan and Black-necked Araçari, respectively. Our study reinforces the data in the literature on the great flexibility of the genus Plasmodium in alternating host species. In addition, it highlights the current knowledge about P. huffi encompassing its underestimated potential for host diversity. Further research is essential, particularly involving bird groups frequently excluded from haemosporidian studies in Brazil, such as non-passeriform birds, to accurately elucidate the P. huffi host-parasite relationships.
血孢子虫是异宿主、世界性的原生动物，通过吸血双翅目昆虫作为媒介感染鸟类。疟原虫属具有中等的物种多样性，以宿主物种交替的极大灵活性、从中度到重度的致病性以及普遍较低的流行率而闻名。1950 年首次描述了疟原虫 huffi，但其特征描述不足，然而，在 2021 年，该物种被重新描述为感染两种不同的巴西巨嘴鸟，即托哥巨嘴鸟和栗额金刚鹦鹉。在此，我们通过分子诊断和进行系统发育分析，描述了疟原虫 huffi 的四个新的潜在鸟类宿主物种：孔雀、大食蚁兽、美洲鸵鸟和凤冠雉，检测到先前分别在托哥巨嘴鸟和黑颈黑 Araçari 中描述的疟原虫 RTCE206 和 PACE173 谱系。我们的研究加强了文献中关于疟原虫属在宿主物种交替方面具有极大灵活性的资料。此外，它突出了关于疟原虫 huffi 的现有知识，包括其对宿主多样性的低估潜力。进一步的研究是必要的，特别是涉及经常被排除在巴西血孢子虫研究之外的鸟类群体，如非雀形目鸟类，以准确阐明疟原虫 huffi 的宿主-寄生虫关系。
