Host associations and evolutionary relationships of avian blood parasites from West Africa

Beadell, Jon S.; Covas, Rita; Gebhard, Christina A.; Ishtiaq, Farah; Melo, Martim; Schmidt, Brian K.; Perkins, Susan L.; Graves, Gary R.; Fleischer, Robert C.

doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.06.005

Cited by 113 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…Traditionally, subtle morphological characters were used to distinguish taxa [25]. However, recent studies have demonstrated substantial genetic diversity within some morphospecies, and have raised the possibility of cryptic species in this system [31,[51][52][53]. However, the status of most haemosporidian parasites as biological species remains untested.…”

Section: (C) Resolving Parasite -Bird and Parasite-mosquito Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host compatibility rather than vector–host-encounter rate determines the host range of avian Plasmodium parasites

2013

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Blood-feeding arthropod vectors are responsible for transmitting many parasites between vertebrate hosts. While arthropod vectors often feed on limited subsets of potential host species, little is known about the extent to which this influences the distribution of vector-borne parasites in some systems. Here, we test the hypothesis that different vector species structure parasitehost relationships by restricting access of certain parasites to a subset of available hosts. Specifically, we investigate how the feeding patterns of Culex mosquito vectors relate to distributions of avian malaria parasites among hosts in suburban Chicago, IL, USA. We show that Plasmodium lineages, defined by cytochrome b haplotypes, are heterogeneously distributed across avian hosts. However, the feeding patterns of the dominant vectors (Culex restuans and Culex pipiens) are similar across these hosts, and do not explain the distributions of Plasmodium parasites. Phylogenetic similarity of avian hosts predicts similarity in their Plasmodium parasites. This effect was driven primarily by the general association of Plasmodium parasites with particular host superfamilies. Our results suggest that a mosquito-imposed encounter rate does not limit the distribution of avian Plasmodium parasites across hosts. This implies that compatibility between parasites and their avian hosts structure Plasmodium host range.

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Section: (C) Resolving Parasite -Bird and Parasite-mosquito Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host compatibility rather than vector–host-encounter rate determines the host range of avian Plasmodium parasites

2013

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“…Recent surveys of blood parasites in vertebrate wildlife populations, using PCR to screen hosts for infections and DNA sequencing to identify parasite lineages, have revealed a rich diversity of hemosporidian parasites (3)(4)(5)(6), possibly comparable to the number of hosts surveyed (7,8). It is important to reevaluate our interpretation of hemosporidian evolution as we expand sampling, to provide insight into shifts among hosts and vectors-often implicated in emerging infectious diseases-and to interpret the evolution of malaria parasite life cycles.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rerooting the evolutionary tree of malaria parasites

Outlaw

Ricklefs

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.) have plagued humans for millennia. Less well known are related parasites (Haemosporida), with diverse life cycles and dipteran vectors that infect other vertebrates. Understanding the evolution of parasite life histories, including switches between hosts and vectors, depends on knowledge of evolutionary relationships among parasite lineages. In particular, inferences concerning time of origin and trait evolution require correct placement of the root of the evolutionary tree. Phylogenetic reconstructions of the diversification of malaria parasites from DNA sequences have suffered from uncertainty concerning outgroup taxa, limited taxon sampling, and selection on genes used to assess relationships. As a result, inferred relationships among the Haemosporida have been unstable, and questions concerning evolutionary diversification and host switching remain unanswered. A recent phylogeny placed mammalian malaria parasites, as well as avian/reptilian Plasmodium, in a derived position relative to the avian parasite genera Leucocytozoon and Haemoproteus, implying that the ancestral forms lacked merogony in the blood and that their vectors were non-mosquito dipterans. Bayesian, outgroup-free phylogenetic reconstruction using relaxed molecular clocks with uncorrelated rates instead suggested that mammalian and avian/reptilian Plasmodium parasites, spread by mosquito vectors, are ancestral sister taxa, from which a variety of specialized parasite lineages with modified life histories have evolved.Bayes factors | parasite diversification | Plasmodiidae M alaria parasites [broadly Apicomplexa: Haemosporida (1, 2)] have been well sampled in primates and songbirds, but are poorly known in other vertebrate groups. Recent surveys of blood parasites in vertebrate wildlife populations, using PCR to screen hosts for infections and DNA sequencing to identify parasite lineages, have revealed a rich diversity of hemosporidian parasites (3-6), possibly comparable to the number of hosts surveyed (7,8). It is important to reevaluate our interpretation of hemosporidian evolution as we expand sampling, to provide insight into shifts among hosts and vectors-often implicated in emerging infectious diseases-and to interpret the evolution of malaria parasite life cycles. Because choice of outgroup taxa critically influences the reconstruction of evolutionary relationships (9), it is also important to reassess assumptions about ancestral relationships and the monophyly of taxa. Premolecular reconstructions based on morphology and life history traits presumed that a monophyletic clade of Plasmodium parasites exhibited the most derived traits [e.g., asexual reproduction (merogony) in the circulating blood of the vertebrate host, production of hemozoin pigment from the metabolism of hemoglobin] (10, 11); accordingly, Leucocytozoon, a parasite of birds that lacks these traits, was placed in a basal position (Fig. 1A). Such a position for Leucocytozoon was indeed suggested in early molecular analyses based on the ...

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“…For example, one study showed marked and complex associations between avian malaria infections and landscape on a local scale, within a single population of birds (Wood et al, 2007). There has been extensive work conducted to determine the prevalence and diversity of these parasites in rainforest birds in WestCentral Africa (Beadell et al, 2009;Sehgal et al, 2005;Waldenström et al, 2002). This region of Africa is highly relevant to the investigation of effects of habitat modification due to continued high rates of deforestation and forest fragmentation (FAO, 2009).…”

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Deforestation and avian infectious diseases

Sehgal

2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

112

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SummaryIn this time of unprecedented global change, infectious diseases will impact humans and wildlife in novel and unknown ways. Climate change, the introduction of invasive species, urbanization, agricultural practices and the loss of biodiversity have all been implicated in increasing the spread of infectious pathogens. In many regards, deforestation supersedes these other global events in terms of its immediate potential global effects in both tropical and temperate regions. The effects of deforestation on the spread of pathogens in birds are largely unknown. Birds harbor many of the same types of pathogens as humans and in addition can spread infectious agents to humans and other wildlife. It is thought that avifauna have gone extinct due to infectious diseases and many are presently threatened, especially endemic island birds. It is clear that habitat degradation can pose a direct threat to many bird species but it is uncertain how these alterations will affect disease transmission and susceptibility to disease. The migration and dispersal of birds can also change with habitat degradation, and thus expose populations to novel pathogens. Some recent work has shown that the results of landscape transformation can have confounding effects on avian malaria, other haemosporidian parasites and viruses. Now with advances in many technologies, including mathematical and computer modeling, genomics and satellite tracking, scientists have tools to further research the disease ecology of deforestation. This research will be imperative to help predict and prevent outbreaks that could affect avifauna, humans and other wildlife worldwide.Key words: deforestation, birds, infectious diseases, disease ecology, global change. THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY956 Brownstein et al., 2005; Killilea et al., 2008), and cutaneous leishmaniasis is increasing with deforestation in Costa Rica (Chaves et al., 2008). Deforestation has also been associated with the increased emergence of viral pathogens, such as SARS, Ebola and other viruses of bats (Field, 2009; Leroy et al., 2005; Looi and Chua, 2007). In addition, deforestation can indirectly result in increased human contact with wildlife, increasing the exposure to zoonoses (Wolfe et al., 2005;Wolfe et al., 2007). For example, it is now clear that human/chimpanzee contacts led to the HIV pandemic (Keele et al., 2006; Keele et al., 2009), and may have provided the first transmission of Falciparum malaria (Rich et al., 2009).Birds are affected by viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal infectious pathogens, and can also act as reservoirs of numerous zoonotic pathogens (Davis, 1971;Hubalek, 2004;Thomas and Hunter, 2007). It is likely that the direct and indirect effects of deforestation could affect the transmission of all the four major classes of avian pathogens. Viruses Avian influenzaThe most topical virus of birds is the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. Avian influenza viruses reside in wild aquatic birds; they are the natural reservoir for all influenza A viruses (Ol...

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Host associations and evolutionary relationships of avian blood parasites from West Africa

Cited by 113 publications

References 43 publications

Host compatibility rather than vector–host-encounter rate determines the host range of avian Plasmodium parasites

Host compatibility rather than vector–host-encounter rate determines the host range of avian Plasmodium parasites

Rerooting the evolutionary tree of malaria parasites

Deforestation and avian infectious diseases

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