Genetic diversity, phylogenetic position, and co-phylogenetic relationships of Karyolysus, a common blood parasite of lizards in the western Mediterranean

Megía‐Palma, Rodrigo; Martı́nez, Javier; Fitze, Patrick S.; Cuervo, José Javier; Belliure, Josabel; Jiménez-Robles, Octavio; Cabido, Carlos; Martı́n, José; Merino, Santiago

doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2022.12.006

Cited by 10 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Thus, this view supports that Schellackia, a parasite with a closer biological and phylogenetic relationship with the Lacertidae (Megía-Palma, Martínez, Cuervo, et al, 2018;Megía-Palma et al, 2023), remains under a stronger immune control by the vertebrate host than Karyolysus.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Karyolysus was distinguished by its banana‐like shape, the presence of a parasitophorous vacuole, digestive vacuoles in trophozoites, and its distorting effects on both host cell membrane and nucleus. Parasitemia of the two parasites was calculated as the proportion of infected erythrocytes in an estimated total number of erythrocytes in 100 microscope fields (Megía‐Palma et al, 2023).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, Karyolysus can reproduce both in invertebrate and vertebrate hosts, whereas Schellackia can only do it in lizard hosts. Interestingly, recent research using similar methodologies have found differential cophylogenetic signals between lacertid host species and both Schellackia and Karyolysus (Megía‐Palma, Martínez, Cuervo, et al, 2018; Megía‐Palma et al, 2023). These studies suggest that the lacertid phylogenetic radiation in the western Mediterranean has a significant influence on Schellackia diversification process, whereas there was no statistical support for a similar influence on Karyolysus radiation (Megía‐Palma, Martínez, Cuervo, et al, 2018; Megía‐Palma et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…With the advent of molecular methods in the last decade, we have been able to match taxonomic identity of protozoan blood parasites of lizards with morphology (phylum Apicomplexa) (Megía‐Palma et al, 2013). For example, a recent survey of over 700 lizards in the family Lacertidae revealed that Karyolysus (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina) is the most common parasite genus in Iberian lacertids (Megía‐Palma et al, 2023). Blood cells infected by this parasite have nuclei that usually present a distorted morphology (Haklová‐Kočíková et al, 2014; Reichenow, 1919).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Karyolysus and Schellackia may differ in their host exploitation strategies. Karyolysus undergoes asexual reproduction in several organs and tissues of lizards including the liver, lung, heart, ovaries, and spleen (Svahn, 1975), whereas sexual reproduction occurs in an hematophagous mite of the genus Ophionyssus (= Sauronyssus ) (Acari: Macronyssidae) (Megía‐Palma et al, 2023). This arthropod acts as vector (Haklová‐Kočíková et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential recovery ability from infections by two blood parasite genera in males of a Mediterranean lacertid lizard after an experimental translocation

Megía‐Palma,

Redondo,

Blázquez‐Castro

et al. 2023

J Exp Zool Pt A

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Different blood parasites can co‐infect natural populations of lizards. However, our knowledge of the host's ability to recover from them (i.e., significantly reduce parasitemia levels) is scarce. This has interest from an ecological immunology perspective. Herein, we investigate the host recovery ability in males of the lizard Psammodromus algirus infected by parasite genera Schellackia and Karyolysus. The role of lizard hosts is dissimilar in the life cycle of these two parasites, and thus different immune control of the infections is expected by the vertebrate host. As Schellackia performs both sexual and asexual reproduction cycles in lizards, we expect a better immune control by its vertebrate hosts. On the contrary, Karyolysus performs sexual reproductive cycles in vectors, hence we expect lower immune control by the lizards. We carried out a reciprocal translocation experiment during the lizards’ mating season to evaluate both parasitemia and leukocyte profiles in male lizards, being one of the sampling plots close to a road with moderate traffic. These circumstances provide a combination of extrinsic (environmental stress) and intrinsic factors (reproductive vs. immune trade‐offs) that may influence host's recovery ability. We recaptured 33% of the lizards, with a similar proportion in control and translocated groups. Karyolysus infected 92.3% and Schellackia 38.5% of these lizards. Hosts demonstrated ability to significantly reduce parasitemia of Schellackia but not of Karyolysus. This suggests, in line with our predictions, a differential immune relationship of lizards with these parasites, at time that supports that parasites with different phylogenetic origins should be analyzed separately in investigations of their effects on hosts. Furthermore, lizards close to the road underwent a stronger upregulation of lymphocytes and monocytes when translocated far from the road, suggesting a putative greater exposure to pathogens in the latter area.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Differential recovery ability from infections by two blood parasite genera in males of a Mediterranean lacertid lizard after an experimental translocation

Megía‐Palma,

Redondo,

Blázquez‐Castro

et al. 2023

J Exp Zool Pt A

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Three yellow patches differently correlate with escape behaviour, morphological traits, leukocytes, parasites, and hormones in a lizard species

de los Ríos-Solera,

Megía-Palma,

Tarriza

et al. 2024

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Impact of blood parasites on the behaviour of two congeneric wall lizards (genus Podarcis)

Faria,

Megía-Palma,

Harris

2024

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Modern studies have shown how parasites add extra complexity to ecosystems through their potential effects on hosts. Blood parasites are common in lizards and various studies have suggested varying degrees of negative effects on these hosts. In this study, we investigate effects of infection by blood parasites on the boldness and aggressiveness of male lizards of two sympatric species living in North Portugal: Podarcis bocagei and Podarcis lusitanicus, known to host blood parasites of two protozoan orders: Adeleorina and Eimeriorina (Apicomplexa). We used a mirror to quantify behavioural interactions of the lizards with their specular images, which did not identify any influence of parasite infection on either species. Boldness was evaluated through exploratory tests, with an identified trend for parasitized P. lusitanicus towards higher exploratory activity and exposure time. This was independent of the intensity of infection. No such effect was found for P. bocagei. The behavioural changes for infected P. lusitanicus appear to be in the direction of increasing light exposure by spending more time directly under the light source, thus suggesting a link with thermoregulation, although further experiments to clarify this hypothesis are required. These results highlight the importance of understanding individual parasite-host relationships, as they show that the same parasites can have different effects across even closely related species. Significance statement Parasites can affect their host in a variety of ways. We used mirror-interaction and exploratory tests to assess the effects of blood parasites in the aggressiveness and boldness behavioural traits of two sympatric lizard species: Podarcis bocagei and Podarcis lusitanicus. No effect of blood parasite infection in these two behavioural traits was identified on Podarcis bocagei. Podarcis lusitanicus tended to demonstrate a response to infection by Adeleorina with an increase in boldness and willingness to increase exposure times, despite low intensity of infection. Our results show how the same parasites can differently affect closely related host taxa from the same system, and how their effects can be significant even when intensities of infection are low.

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Genetic diversity, phylogenetic position, and co-phylogenetic relationships of Karyolysus, a common blood parasite of lizards in the western Mediterranean

Cited by 10 publications

References 68 publications

Differential recovery ability from infections by two blood parasite genera in males of a Mediterranean lacertid lizard after an experimental translocation

Differential recovery ability from infections by two blood parasite genera in males of a Mediterranean lacertid lizard after an experimental translocation

Three yellow patches differently correlate with escape behaviour, morphological traits, leukocytes, parasites, and hormones in a lizard species

Impact of blood parasites on the behaviour of two congeneric wall lizards (genus Podarcis)

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