title: Chlamydotis macqueenii and C. undulata (Aves: Otididae) are new hosts for Caryospora megafalconis (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) and proposal of the genus Avispora gen. nov.
abstract: Oocysts of a coccidian morphologically matching features of Caryospora megafalconis Klüh, 1994 were found in fecal samples and contents of the large intestines in five wild caught Clamydotis macqueenii (Gray) and 19 captive bred C. undulata (Jaquin). Scrapings of the intestinal mucosa of necropsied birds revealed macrogamonts and unsporulated oocysts. Sporulation in a potassium dichromate solution at 26 °C was completed in 48 h. Intestinal contents and sporulated oocysts obtained from feces of infected bustards as well as sporulated oocysts of C. megafalconis and C. neofalconis Böer, 1982 from two Falco rusticolis Linnaeus and one F. peregrinus Tunstall were used for DNA sequencing of the cox1, 18S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA), and 28S rRNA genes. The phylogenetic trees for all three genes showed that sequences of the material from bustards were identical with C. megafalconis from falcons. C. neofalconis and C. daceloe Yang et al., 2014 were situated in the neighboring clades. Contrary to this, subsequent sequences of C. bigenetica Wacha and Christiansen, 1982 from rattlesakes are at a distinct distance suggesting that despite morphological similarities of the oocysts, there are differences between Caryospora species of birds and reptiles. For this reason, it might be reasonable to transfer avian Caryospora species into a new genus Avispora.
authors: Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, PO Box 957, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. moniezia@zedat.fu-berlin.de.
authors: Rolf K
authors: RK
authors: Schuster
authors: Department of Microbiology, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Patrick C Y
authors: PC
authors: Woo
authors: Department of Microbiology, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Rosana W S
authors: RW
authors: Poon
authors: Department of Microbiology, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Susanna K P
authors: SK
authors: Lau
authors: Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, PO Box 957, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
authors: Saritha
authors: S
authors: Sivakumar
authors: Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, PO Box 957, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
authors: Jörg
authors: J
authors: Kinne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000469:parasitology*; D021743:Eimeriidae / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005243:Feces; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D033661:Oocysts; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S
chemical_list: D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S
keywords: 18S rRNA; 28S rRNA gene sequences; Avispora gen. nov; Caryospora megafalconis; Chlamydotis maquenii; Clamydotis undulata; Cox1