title: Hemolivia and hepatozoon: haemogregarines with tangled evolutionary relationships.
abstract: The generic name Hemolivia has been used for haemogregarines characterized by morphological and biological features. The few molecular studies, focused on other haemogregarine genera but involving Hemolivia samples, indicated its close relationship to the genus Hepatozoon. Here we analyze molecular data for Hemolivia from a broad geographic area and host spectrum and provide detailed morphological documentation of the included samples. Based on molecular analyses in context of other haemogregarines, we demonstrate that several sequences deposited in GenBank from isolates described as Hepatozoon belong to the Hemolivia cluster. This illustrates the overall difficulty with recognizing Hemolivia and Hepatozoon without sufficient morphological and molecular information. The close proximity of both genera is also reflected in uncertainty about their precise phylogeny when using 18S rDNA. They cluster with almost identical likelihood either as two sister taxa or as monophyletic Hemolivia within paraphyletic Hepatozoon. However, regardless of these difficulties, the results presented here provide a reliable background for the unequivocal placement of new samples into the Hemolivia/ Hepatozoon complex.
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic. Electronic address: janaq@centrum.cz.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kvičerová
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Václav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hypša
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic; CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Nela
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dvořáková
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynska dolina B-1, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mikulíček
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynska dolina B-1, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EBIO), Ramaley N122, Campus Box 334, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO-80309-0334, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jandzik
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, 5001 South Australia, Australia; Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, 5000 South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael George
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Baghabrisham 67149, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Javanbakht
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Badji Mokhtar, BP 12, El Hadjar, 23000 Annaba, Algeria.
authors.forename: Ghoulem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tiar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic; CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Siroký
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003044:Coccidia / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008853:Microscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: Apicomplexa; Hemolivia; Hepatozoon; haemogregarines; host specificity; phylogeny.