title: Detection of Hepatocystis sp. in southeast Asian flying foxes (Pteropodidae) using microscopic and molecular methods.
abstract: Three species of flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus, P. vampyrus, and P. lylei) from Malaysia and Vietnam were screened for apicomplexan parasites by thin blood smears and polymerase chain reaction. Only 1 of 16 bats sampled from 3 localities in southeast Asia was found to be infected (P. hypomelanus from Pulau Pangkor, Malaysia). We observed micro- and macrogametocytes, with morphology consistent with Hepatocystis sp. parasites, using light microscopy. Phylogenetic analysis of the cytochrome b gene showed that the parasite from P. hypomelanus groups with 2 published sequences from Hepatocystis spp., including one from Cynopterus brachyotis, another fruit bat in the Pteropodidae.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10027, USA. kjo2002@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Olival
authors.forename: Eric O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Stiner
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Perkins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000469:parasitology*; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology; D016787:Haemosporida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D014744:Vietnam
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D045303:Cytochromes b