Phylogeny, Diversity, Distribution, and Host Specificity of Haemoproteus spp. (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) of Palaearctic Tortoises.
A complex wide-range study on the haemoproteid parasites of chelonians was carried out for the first time. Altogether, 811 samples from four tortoise species from an extensive area between western Morocco and eastern Afghanistan and between Romania and southern Syria were studied by a combination of microscopic and molecular-genetic methods. Altogether 160 Haemoproteus-positive samples were gathered in the area between central Anatolia and eastern Afghanistan. According to variability in the cytochrome b gene, two monophyletic evolutionary lineages were distinguished; by means of microscopic analysis it was revealed that they corresponded to two previously described species-Haemoproteus anatolicum and Haemoproteus caucasica. Their distribution areas overlap only in a narrow strip along the Zagros Mts. range in Iran. This fact suggests the involvement of two different vector species with separated distribution. Nevertheless, no vectors were confirmed. According to phylogenetic analyses, H. caucasica represented a sister group to H. anatolicum, and both of them were most closely related to H. pacayae and H. peltocephali, described from South American river turtles. Four unique haplotypes were revealed in the population of H. caucasica, compared with seven haplotypes in H. anatolicum. Furthermore, H. caucasica was detected in two tortoise species, Testudo graeca and Testudo horsfieldii, providing evidence that Haemoproteus is not strictly host-specific to the tortoise host species.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Baghabrisham, 67149, Kermanshah, Iran.
Hossein
H
Javanbakht
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.
Jana
J
Kvičerová
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.|CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.
Nela
N
Dvořáková
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina B-1, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
Peter
P
Mikulíček
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Baghabrisham, 67149, Kermanshah, Iran.
Mozafar
M
Sharifi
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.
Matej
M
Kautman
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.
Aneta
A
Maršíková
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.|CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.
Pavel
P
Široký
D000818:Animals; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D016787:Haemosporida / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D058507:Host Specificity; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*; D014426:Turtles / Q000469:parasitology*
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D045303:Cytochromes b
Barcoding; Leptoconops; Testudo; cytochrome b; intraspecific variability; morphology