title: Haemoproteus erythrogravidus n. sp. (Haemosporida, Haemoproteidae): Description and molecular characterization of a widespread blood parasite of birds in South America.
abstract: The great diversity of birds and ecosystems in the Andean mountains has been understudied in terms of their parasite species. We describe a new Haemoproteus parasite, H. (Parahaemoproteus) erythrogravidus infecting Zonotrichia capensis (Rufous-Collared Sparrow) in South America. The description of this blood parasite species is supported by morphological and molecular data based on a fragment of cytochrome b gene (cyt b) and complete mitochondrial genome sequences. The new species is closely related to H. (Parahaemoproteus) coatneyi, and it can be readily distinguished from the latter parasite due to morphology of its blood stages, particularly 1) the formation of a marked protrusion on envelope of infected erythrocytes by the majority of developing gametocytes, a feature which is unique for this Haemoproteus species and 2) the extremely attenuated width of the growing dumbbell-shaped macro- and microgametocytes. Additionally, Haemoproteus erythrogravidus is shown to be a monophyletic taxon that diverges from Haemoproteus coatneyi at the molecular level. We provide the complete mitochondrial DNA genome for both H. coatneyi and H. erythrogravidus. Molecular and morphological evidences indicate that H. erythrogravidus is present in Ecuador and Colombia, and genetic lineages with 100% of identity for the cyt b gene were reported in Chile, Perú, and Venezuela. Our study also indicates that H. erythrogravidus and H. coatneyi are sympatric sister taxa sharing Z. capensis as a host species across its distribution, which could be the result of sympatric speciation or complex biogeographic processes. Further studies on the distribution and evolutionary history of Z. capensis and its parasites H. erythrogravidus and H. coatneyi insight for our better understanding of the factors and dynamics driving parasite speciation.
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá-Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Grupo de Investigación Caracterización genética e inmunología, Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá 111321, Colombia.
authors.forename: Juan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mantilla
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá-Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Grupo de Investigación Caracterización genética e inmunología, Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá 111321, Colombia.
authors.forename: Angie D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá-Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Grupo de Investigación Caracterización genética e inmunología, Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá 111321, Colombia.
authors.forename: Ingrid A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Lotta
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Calle José Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Michaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moens
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (igem), Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: M Andreína
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (igem), Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Ananias A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Escalante
authors.affiliation: Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Gediminas
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valkiūnas
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá-Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Salud Pública-Grupo de Investigación Infecciones y Salud en el Trópico, Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá 111321, Colombia.
authors.forename: Ligia I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Moncada
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Calle José Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pérez-Tris
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá-Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Grupo de Investigación Caracterización genética e inmunología, Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá 111321, Colombia. Electronic address: nemattac@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: Nubia E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Matta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D001717:Birds / Q000469:parasitology*; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D016787:Haemosporida / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010271:Parasites / Q000145:classification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*; D013020:South America
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D045303:Cytochromes b
keywords: Avian malaria; Blood parasite; Haemoproteus; Haemosporida; Neotropics; New species; Zonotrichia capensis