Molecular phylogenetic assessment of host range in five Dermanyssus species

Abstract

Given that 14 out of the 25 currently described species of Dermanyssus Dugès, 1834, are morphologically very close to each another, misidentifications may occur and are suspected in at least some records. One of these 14 species is the red fowl mite, D. gallinae (De Geer, 1778), a blood parasite of wild birds, but also a pest in the poultry industry. Using molecular phylogenetic tools we aimed to answer two questions concerning host specificity and synanthropicity: (1) is D. gallinae the only species infesting European layer farms?, and (2) can populations of D. gallinae move from wild to domestic birds and vice versa? Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene sequences were obtained from 73 Dermanyssus populations collected from nests of wild European birds and from poultry farms and these were analyzed using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference. Mapping of the observed host range on the obtained topology and correlation with behavioural observations revealed that (1) host range is strongly dependent on some ecological parameters (e.g. nest hygiene, exposure to pesticides and predators), that (2) out of five species under test, synanthropic populations were found only in lineages of D. gallinae, and that (3) at least some haplotypes found in wild birds were very close to those found in association with domestic birds.

Diversity of Phylogenetic Information According to the Locus and the Taxonomic Level: An Example from a Parasitic Mesostigmatid Mite Genus

“…Some species that had previously been considered to have a very broad host range turned out to be more specific than thought, likely due to previous misidentifications [10]. Roy et al [10,11] highlighted an opposition between two main clades, which seemed to be correlated with the level of host specificity. On one hand, there was the D. gallinae clade with generalist species (nine different bird orders), including diverse lineages, of which some may by potentially cryptic species.…”

“…On one hand, there was the D. gallinae clade with generalist species (nine different bird orders), including diverse lineages, of which some may by potentially cryptic species. On the second hand there was a clade of four specialist species ( D. hirundinis , Passeriform hosts, a single bird family in France, D. longipes , Passeriform hosts, 2 bird families, D. carpathicus , id., and D. apodis , Apodiform host, a single bird genus) [10]. Moreover, D. gallinae is the only synanthropic species (encountered in bird farms).…”

“…Moreover, D. gallinae is the only synanthropic species (encountered in bird farms). Although the studies of Roy et al [10,11] reached a solid delineation between species, they did not succeed in resolving relationships between specific entities. This was due to the use of mt DNA data only [10] or to the weakly informative variations in the selected nDNA fragment (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) [11].…”

“…The present study has the following two objectives: Assess the utility of two additional nuclear markers - elongation factor 1-α (EF-1α), Tropomyosin exon n, intron n and exon n + 1(Tpm) - for the exploration of relationships between and within species belonging to Dermanyssus and comparing these results to previous studies [10, 11]Address the following questions about the evolution of host specificity in Dermanyssus : Are the lineages of the generalist D. gallinae’s lineages effectively composed of cryptic species (potentially making them as specialized as any of the four specialist species)?Is the generalist condition derived or ancestral?…”

Candidate predators for biological control of the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae

“…Based on a recent inquiry among farmers, the total costs from damage and control measures to the whole egg industry in The Netherlands are estimated to be 11 million Euros per year (Emous et al 2005). This underestimates real costs because poultry red mites may vector disease agents of poultry (Valiente Moro et al 2005, 2007 and they are a source of allergens causing dermatological problems to farmers and veterinarians (Rosen et al 2002;Beck 1999).…”