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Cross-species infection of blood parasites between resident and migratory songbirds in Africa

Waldenström, Jonas LU ; Bensch, Staffan LU orcid ; Kiboi, Samuel LU ; Hasselquist, Dennis LU and Ottosson, Ulf LU (2002) In Molecular Ecology 11(8). p.1545-1554
Abstract
We studied the phylogeny of avian haemosporidian parasites, Haemoproteus and Plasmodium, in a number of African resident and European migratory songbird species sampled during spring and autumn in northern Nigeria. The phylogeny of the parasites was constructed through sequencing part of their mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. We found eight parasite lineages, five Haemoproteus and three Plasmodium, infecting multiple host species. Thus, 44% of the 18 haemospiridian lineages found in this study were detected in more than one host species, indicating that host sharing is a more common feature than previously thought. Furthermore, one of the Plasmodium lineages infected species from different host families, Sylviidae and Ploceidae, expressing... (More)
We studied the phylogeny of avian haemosporidian parasites, Haemoproteus and Plasmodium, in a number of African resident and European migratory songbird species sampled during spring and autumn in northern Nigeria. The phylogeny of the parasites was constructed through sequencing part of their mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. We found eight parasite lineages, five Haemoproteus and three Plasmodium, infecting multiple host species. Thus, 44% of the 18 haemospiridian lineages found in this study were detected in more than one host species, indicating that host sharing is a more common feature than previously thought. Furthermore, one of the Plasmodium lineages infected species from different host families, Sylviidae and Ploceidae, expressing exceptionally large host range. We mapped transmission events, e.g. the occurrence of the parasite lineages in resident bird species in Europe or Africa, onto a phylogenetic tree. This yielded three clades, two Plasmodium and one Haemoproteus, in which transmission seems to occur solely in Africa. One Plasmodium clade showed European transmission, whereas the remaining two Haemoproteus clades contained mixes of lineages of African, European or unknown transmission. The mix of areas of transmission in several branches of the phylogenetic tree suggests that transmission of haemosporidian parasites to songbirds has arisen repeatedly in Africa and Europe. Blood parasites could be viewed as a cost of migration, as migratory species in several cases were infected with parasite lineages from African resident species. This cost of migration could have considerable impact on the evolution of migration and patterns of winter distribution in migrating birds. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Molecular Ecology
volume
11
issue
8
pages
1545 - 1554
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:12144673
  • wos:000177086900026
  • scopus:0035993776
ISSN
0962-1083
DOI
10.1046/j.1365-294X.2002.01523.x
project
Malaria in birds
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7271b760-00d4-4577-98c6-60c0b9795bca (old id 138319)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:26:24
date last changed
2024-10-12 02:18:10
@article{7271b760-00d4-4577-98c6-60c0b9795bca,
  abstract     = {{We studied the phylogeny of avian haemosporidian parasites, Haemoproteus and Plasmodium, in a number of African resident and European migratory songbird species sampled during spring and autumn in northern Nigeria. The phylogeny of the parasites was constructed through sequencing part of their mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. We found eight parasite lineages, five Haemoproteus and three Plasmodium, infecting multiple host species. Thus, 44% of the 18 haemospiridian lineages found in this study were detected in more than one host species, indicating that host sharing is a more common feature than previously thought. Furthermore, one of the Plasmodium lineages infected species from different host families, Sylviidae and Ploceidae, expressing exceptionally large host range. We mapped transmission events, e.g. the occurrence of the parasite lineages in resident bird species in Europe or Africa, onto a phylogenetic tree. This yielded three clades, two Plasmodium and one Haemoproteus, in which transmission seems to occur solely in Africa. One Plasmodium clade showed European transmission, whereas the remaining two Haemoproteus clades contained mixes of lineages of African, European or unknown transmission. The mix of areas of transmission in several branches of the phylogenetic tree suggests that transmission of haemosporidian parasites to songbirds has arisen repeatedly in Africa and Europe. Blood parasites could be viewed as a cost of migration, as migratory species in several cases were infected with parasite lineages from African resident species. This cost of migration could have considerable impact on the evolution of migration and patterns of winter distribution in migrating birds.}},
  author       = {{Waldenström, Jonas and Bensch, Staffan and Kiboi, Samuel and Hasselquist, Dennis and Ottosson, Ulf}},
  issn         = {{0962-1083}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{1545--1554}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Molecular Ecology}},
  title        = {{Cross-species infection of blood parasites between resident and migratory songbirds in Africa}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294X.2002.01523.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1046/j.1365-294X.2002.01523.x}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2002}},
}