New insights from Gorongosa National Park and Niassa National Reserve of Mozambique increasing the genetic diversity of Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma vivax-like in tsetse flies, wild ungulates and livestock from East Africa

Abstract

Background Trypanosoma (Duttonella) vivax is a major pathogen of livestock in Africa and South America (SA), and genetic studies limited to small sampling suggest greater diversity in East Africa (EA) compared to both West Africa (WA) and SA.MethodsMultidimensional scaling and phylogenetic analyses of 112 sequences of the glycosomal glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) gene and 263 sequences of the internal transcribed spacer of rDNA (ITS rDNA) were performed to compare trypanosomes from tsetse flies from Gorongosa National Park and Niassa National Reserve of Mozambique (MZ), wild ungulates and livestock from EA, and livestock isolates from WA and SA.ResultsMultidimensional scaling (MDS) supported Tvv (T. vivax) and TvL (T. vivax-like) evolutionary lineages: 1) Tvv comprises two main groups, TvvA/B (all SA and WA isolates plus some isolates from EA) and TvvC/D (exclusively from EA). The network revealed five ITS-genotypes within Tvv: Tvv1 (WA/EA isolates), Tvv2 (SA) and Tvv3–5 (EA). EA genotypes of Tvv ranged from highly related to largely different from WA/SA genotypes. 2) TvL comprises two gGAPDH-groups formed exclusively by EA sequences, TvLA (Tanzania/Kenya) and TvLB-D (MZ). This lineage contains more than 11 ITS-genotypes, seven forming the lineage TvL-Gorongosa that diverged from T. vivax Y486 enough to be identified as another species of the subgenus Duttonella. While gGAPDH sequences were fundamental for classification at the subgenus, major evolutionary lineages and species levels, ITS rDNA sequences permitted identification of known and novel genotypes.ConclusionsOur results corroborate a remarkable diversity of Duttonella trypanosomes in EA, especially in wildlife conservation areas, compared to the moderate diversity in WA. Surveys in wilderness areas in WA may reveal greater diversity. Biogeographical and phylogenetic data point to EA as the place of origin, diversification and spread of Duttonella trypanosomes across Africa, providing relevant insights towards the understanding of T. vivax evolutionary history.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2241-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Evaluation of the relative roles of the Tabanidae and Glossinidae in the transmission of trypanosomosis in drug resistance hotspots in Mozambique

“…Limited fundamental information on their classification and distribution patterns are available, with the last major work focused on elucidating these aspects having been conducted more than half a century ago, in Mozambique [24]. Few surveys aiming at the distribution [16], genetic characterization [15] or infection of tsetse flies [65,66] were previously published.…”

Genome-wide identification of evolutionarily conserved Small Heat-Shock and eight other proteins bearing α-crystallin domain-like in kinetoplastid protists

“…The species of trypanosomes infective to mammals were distributed in two main previously recognized phylogenetic lineages referred to as follows: clade T . brucei ( Fig 9 ), constituted of African trypanosomes pathogenic to ungulates and transmitted by tsetse flies [ 1 , 4 , 71 ]; clade T . cruzi ( Fig 9 ), comprising the trypanosome generalists of mammals and human infective T .…”

Molecular detection of Bartonella species and haemoplasmas in wild African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in Mozambique, Africa

“…Recently, Trypanosoma vivax and T. vivax -like DNA was amplified in buffaloes and tsetse flies ( Glossina spp.) captured in Gorongosa between the years of between 2007 and 2014 (Rodrigues et al , 2017). These findings reinforce the need for further studies in order to better assess the impact of the translocation process on resident fauna.…”

“…On the other hand, in order to better characterize the initial PCR assay results, haemoplasmapositive buffalo samples were additionally submitted to a cPCR assay targeting a 16S rRNA larger fragment (∼800 bp), as previously described (Maggi et al, 2013b). Mycoplasma haemofelis DNA previously detected in cats in Brazil was used as positive control (Santis et al, 2014).…”

“…Approximately 10 mL of blood samples were collected of each animal before they were transferred from Marromeu Reserve (the site where there was contact with cattle) to the Gorongosa National Park (the site where there was no contact with cattle), distant around 300 kilometers from each other. The EDTA-blood were mixed (v/v) with ethanol, transported to the laboratory and posterior kept at −20°C until sent an aliquot (∼1 mL) to Brazil Rodrigues et al, 2017).…”