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Population structure of avian malaria parasites.

ABSTRACT: The geographic distribution of genetic diversity in malaria parasite populations (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida) presumably influences local patterns of virulence and the evolution of host-resistance, but little is known about population genetic structure in these parasites. We assess the distribution of genetic diversity in the partial Domain I of apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) in three mtDNA-defined lineages of avian Plasmodium to determine spatial population structure and host-parasite genetic relationships. We find that one parasite lineage is genetically differentiated in association with a single host genus and among some locations, but not with respect to other hosts. Two other parasite lineages are undifferentiated with respect to host species but exhibit geographic differentiation that is inconsistent with shared geographic barriers or with isolation-by-distance. Additional differentiation within two other lineages is unassociated with host species or location; in one case, we tentatively interpret this differentiation as the result of mitochondrial introgression from one of the lineages into a second lineage. More sampling of nuclear genetic diversity within populations of avian Plasmodium is needed to rule out coinfection as a possible confounding factor. If coinfections are not responsible for these findings, further assessment is needed to determine the frequency of mitonuclear discordance and its implications for defining parasite lineages based on mitochondrial genetic variation.

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This article has earned an Open Data Badge for making publicly available the digitally-shareable data necessary to reproduce the reported results. The data is available at Genbank https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/, accession numbers MK965548-MK965653 and MK929797-MK930264.

SUBMITTER: Humphries MB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6635940 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Population structure of avian malaria parasites.

Humphries Meghann B MB Stacy Matthew T MT Ricklefs Robert E RE

Ecology and evolution 20190617 13

The geographic distribution of genetic diversity in malaria parasite populations (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida) presumably influences local patterns of virulence and the evolution of host-resistance, but little is known about population genetic structure in these parasites. We assess the distribution of genetic diversity in the partial Domain I of apical membrane antigen 1 <i>(AMA1)</i> in three mtDNA-defined lineages of avian <i>Plasmodium</i> to determine spatial population structure and host-par ...[more]

PMID: 31346436

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Malaria parasites (genus Plasmodium) are widespread in birds. These pathogens cause pathology of blood and various organs, often resulting in severe avian malaria. Numerous recent studies have reported DNA sequences of avian malaria parasites, indicating rich genetic diversity and the possible existence of many undescribed species. However, the majority of reported Plasmodium lineages remain unidentified to species level, and molecular characterization is unavailable for the majority of described Plasmodium parasites. During the past 15 years, numerous new Plasmodium species have been described. However, keys for their identification are unavailable or incomplete. Identification of avian malaria parasites remains a difficult task even for experts, and this precludes development of avian malariology, particularly in wildlife. Here, keys for avian malaria parasites have been developed as a baseline for assisting academic and veterinary medicine researchers in identification of these pathogens. The main obstacles and future research priorities have been defined in the taxonomy of avian Plasmodium species. METHODS:The data were considered from published articles and type and voucher material, which was accessed in museums in Europe, the USA and Australia. Blood films containing various blood stages of the majority of described species were examined and used for the development of dichotomous keys for avian Plasmodium species. RESULTS:In all, 164 published articles were included in this review. Blood stages of avian Plasmodium parasites belonging to subgenera Haemamoeba, Giovannolaia, Novyella, Bennettinia and Huffia were analysed and compared. Illustrated keys for identification of subgenera and species of these parasites were developed. Lists of invalid and synonymous Plasmodium parasite names as well as names of doubtful identity were composed. CONCLUSION:This study shows that 55 described species of avian Plasmodium can be readily identified using morphological features of their blood stages. These were incorporated in the keys. Numerous synonymous names of Plasmodium species and also the names belonging to the category species inquirenda exist, and they can be used as reserves for future taxonomy studies. Molecular markers are unavailable for 58% of described Plasmodium parasites, raising a task for the current avian malaria researchers to fill up this gap.

Dataset Information

Population structure of avian malaria parasites.

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Publications

Population structure of avian malaria parasites.

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