title: Blood parasites in northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) with an emphasis to Leucocytozoon toddi.
abstract: Haemosporidians and trypanosomes of the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) population in the Czech Republic were studied by morphological and molecular methods. Despite the wide distribution of these medium-large birds of prey, virtually nothing is known about their blood parasites. During a 5-year period, altogether 88 nestlings and 15 adults were screened for haemosporidians and trypanosomes by microscopic examination of blood smears and by nested PCR. Both methods revealed consistently higher prevalence of blood protists in adults, Leucocytozoon (80.0 % in adults vs. 13.6 % in nestlings), Haemoproteus (60.0 vs. 2.3 %), Plasmodium (6.7 vs. 0 %), and Trypanosoma (60.0 vs. 2.3 %). Altogether, five haemosporidian lineages were detected by cytochrome b sequencing. Two broadly distributed and host nonspecific lineages, Plasmodium (TURDUS1) and Leucocytozoon (BT2), were detected only sporadically, while three newly described northern goshawk host-specific Leucocytozoon lineages (ACGE01-03) represent the absolute majority of the haemosporidians identified by molecular methods. Our findings support evidences that in falconiform birds the Leucocytozoon toddi group is formed by several host-specific clusters, with Leucocytozoon buteonis in buzzards and Leucocytozoon mathisi in hawks. Between-year comparisons revealed that the infection status of adults remained predominantly unchanged and individuals stayed uninfected or possessed the same parasite lineages; however, two gains and one loss of blood parasite taxa were also recorded.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hanel
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doležalová
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Šárka
authors.initials: Š
authors.lastname: Stehlíková
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.|Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.|Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Modrý
authors.affiliation: Institute of New Technologies and Applied Informatics, Faculty of Mechatronics and Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies, Technical University of Liberec, Liberec, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chudoba
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Synek
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. vapid@natur.cuni.cz.|Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, Prague, CZ 128 44, Czech Republic. vapid@natur.cuni.cz.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Votýpka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D046093:Falconiformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D016787:Haemosporida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058507:Host Specificity; D008289:Malaria, Avian / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D010802:Phylogeny; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D014345:Trypanosoma / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014352:Trypanosomiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D045303:Cytochromes b
keywords: Avian blood parasites; Birds of prey; Haemosporida; Mixed infection; PCR detection; Raptors; Trypanosoma