Plasmodium species infecting birds
Species in five subgenera of Plasmodium infect birds - Bennettinia, Giovannolaia, Haemamoeba, Huffia and Novyella.[1] Giovannolaia appears to be a polyphytic group and may be sudivided in the future.[2]
Parasite listing
Species infecting birds include: P. accipiteris, P. alaudae, P. alloelongatum, P. anasum, P. ashfordi, P. bambusicolai, P. bigueti, P. bioccai, P. biziurae, P. buteonis, P. caloti, P. cathemerium, P. circumflexum, P. coggeshalli, P. coluzzii, P. corradettii, P. coturnix, P. dherteae, P. dissanaikei, P. dorsti, P. durae, P. elongatum, P. fallax, P forresteri, P. gabaldoni, P. gallinacium, P. garnhami, P. ghadirian, P. ginsburgi, P. giovannolai, P. globularis, P. griffithsi, P. gundersi, P. guangdong, P. lucens, P. hegneri, P. hermani, P. hexamerium, P. huffi, P. jiangi, P. jeanriouxi, P. juxtanucleare, P. kempi, P. lophurae, P.lutzi, P. matutinum, P. megaglobularis, P. merulae, P. mohammedi, P. multivacuolaris, P. nucleophilum, P. pachysomum, P. papernai, P. parahexamerium, P. paranucleophilum, P. parvulum, P. pediocetti, P. paddae, P. pfefferi, P. pinotti, P. polare, P. relictum, P. reniai, P. rouxi, P. sergentorum, P. snounoui, P. stellatum, P. tenue, P. tejerai, P. tumbayaensis and P. vaughani.
Avian host records
- P. cathemerium - red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), song sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos leucopterus), cowbirds (Molothrus ater ater), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), magpies (Pica pica budsonia), bronze grackle (Quiscalus quiscula aeneus), northern cardinal (Richmondena cardinalis), canary (Serinus canaria), starling (Sturnus vulgaris), house wren (Troglodytes aedon), robin (Turdus migratorius), white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
- P. circumflexum - sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus),[5] red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), wood duck (Aix sponsa), canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria), blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), Cape May warbler (Dendroica tigrina), gray cat bird (Dumetella carolinensis), slate colour junicao (Junico hymenalis), song sparrow (Melospiza melodia), common merganser (Mergus merganser), cowbird (Molothrus ater ater), northern cardinal (Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis), trumpeter swan (Olor buccinator), chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnus malabaricus), brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), American robin (Turdus migratorius), juniper thrush (Turdus pilaris), wild guineafowl (Numida meleagris)[6] and white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
- P. durae - turkeys (Meleagris species), common peafowl (Pavo cristatus), francolins (Franoclinus leucoscepus and Franoclinus levialanti levialanti), Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), Lady Amherst pheasants (Chrysophus amherstiae)
- P. gundersi - eastern screech owl (Otus asio)
- P. paranucleophilum - South American tanager
- P. parvulum - vanga species
- P. relictum - skylark (Alauda arvensis), reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura)[13], little night owl (Athene noctua), house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), blue quail (Coturnix chinensis), blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), Gyr falcons (Falco rusticolus), chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), common crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), Hawaiian honeycreeper, yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), magpie (Pica pica), red-billed choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), tree sparrow (Passer montanus), great tit (Parus major), the bearded tit (Panurus biarmicus), siskin (Spinus spinus), Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus), black-footed penguins (Spheniscus demersus), starling (Sturnus vulgaris), pheasant (Tragopan satyra), white-eyed thrush (Turdus jamaicensis), yellow-faced grassquit (Tiaris olivacea)
- P. tumbayaensis - thrush (Planethicus anthracinus)
- P. vaughani - warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus), blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis), blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia), robin (Erithacus rubecula), junco (Junco hyemalis hyemalis), red-billed leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea), bullfinch (Loxigilla violacea), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), the weaver (Ploceus cucullatus), the grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), the canary (Serinus canaria), the blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), the pigeon (Streptopelia senegalensis), eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna), starling (Sturnus vulgaris) black-faced grassquit (Tiaris bicolor), white-eyed thrush (Turdus jamaicensis), the blackbird (Turdus merula) and American sparrows (Zonotrichia species).
Subspecies of avian malaria
- P. nucleophilum has at least one subspecies - P. nucleophilum toucani
- P. relictum has been divided into subspecies: P. relictum capistranoae, P. relicturn matutinum, P. relictum quentini and P. relictum relictum.
Interrelatedness
- P. durae is related to P. asanum, P. circumflexum, P. fallax, P. formosanum, P. gabaldoni, P. hegneri, P. lophrae, P. lophrae, P. pediocetti, P. pinotti, and P. polare.
- P. gallinacium is related to P. griffithsi
- P. relictum is related to P. cathemerium, P. giovannolai and P. matutinum. P. relictum may be difficult to distinguish from P. giovannolai on either morphological grounds or on the basis of host species.
- P. hexamerium is related to P. vaughni.
- P. ashfordi is related to P. vaughni.
Vectors of avian malaria
- Aedes hesperonotius - P. gallinacium
- Culex fatigans - P. relictum
- Culex pipiens pipiens - P. kempi
- Culex nigripalpus - P. elongatum, P. hermani
- Culex salinarius - P. elongatum, P. hermani
- Culex stigmatastoma - P. relictum
- Culiseta morsitans - P. circumflexum
- Mansionia crassipes - P. circumflexum, P. gallinacium
- Theobaldia annulata - P. circumflexum
Notes:
Sporogeny of P. circumflexum but not transmission has been recorded in Mansonia perturbans.
Avian malaria notes
- P. relictum is known to infect over 70 bird families and 359 wild bird species so the record here should be regarded as incomplete. Additional host species can be found under the link Plasmodium relictum. It is likely that this species has been responsible for more bird extinctions than any other protist.
- P. vaughani is the second commonest species of avian malaria parasites after P. relictum.
- P. inconstans, P. irae, P. praecox, P. subpraecox and P. wasielewski have been re classified as P. relictum. P. subpraecox was described by Grassi and Feletti in 1892. P. wasielewski was described by Brumpt in 1909.
- P. elongatum infects 21 bird families and 59 species of bird. Additional host species are given under the link Plasmodium elongatum.
- P. dominicana is species known only from fossil amber.[14] It is thought to have been a species infecting birds. It has been placed in the subgenus Nyssorhynchus.
- The taxonomic status of P. corradettii (Laird, 1998) is currently regarded as dubious and may be revised.
- P. huffi may be the same species as P. nucleophilum toucani.
- P. oti is now regarded as the same species as P. hexamerium.
- There are currently 13 species recognised in the subgenus Novyella all of which are listed here.
A number of additional species have been described in birds - P. centropi, P. chloropsidis, P. gallinuae, P. herodialis, P. heroni, P. mornony, P. pericorcoti and P. ploceii - but the suggested speciation was based at least in part on the idea - 'one host - one species'. It has not been possible to reconcile the descriptions with any of the currently recognised species, and these are not currently regarded as valid species. As further investigations are made into this genus these species may be resurrected.
A species P. japonicum has been reported[15] but this appears to be the only report of this species and should therefore be regarded of dubious validity.
References
- ^ Wiersch S.C., Maier W.A., Kampen H. (2005) Plasmodium (Haemamoeba) cathemerium gene sequences for phylogenetic analysis of malaria parasites. Parasitol. Res. 96(2): 90-94
- ^ Martinsen E.S.,Waite J.L.,Schall J.J. Morphologically defined subgenera of Plasmodium from avian hosts: test of monophyly by phylogenetic analysis of two mitochondrial genes (2006) Parasitol. 1-8
- ^ Valkiūnas G., Zehtindjiev P., Hellgren O., Ilieva M., Iezhova T.A., Bensch S. (2007) Linkage between mitochondrial cytochrome b lineages and morphospecies of two avian malaria parasites, with a description of Plasmodium (Novyella) ashfordi sp. nov. Parasitol. Res.
- ^ Landau I, Chabaud AG, Bertani S, and Snounou G. (2003) Parassitologia. 45(3-4):119-123 Taxonomic status and re-description of Plasmodium relictum (Grassi et Feletti, 1891), Plasmodium maior Raffaele, 1931, and description of P. bigueti n. sp. in sparrows.
- ^ Kirkpatrick CE, Lauer DM. (1985) Hematozoa of raptors from southern New Jersey and adjacent areas. J Wildl. Dis. 21(1):1-6.
- ^ Earle RA, Horak IG, Huchzermeyer FW, Bennett GF, Braack LE, Penzhorn BL. (1991) The prevalence of blood parasites in helmeted guineafowls, Numida meleagris, in the Kruger National Park. Onderstepoort J. Vet. Res. 58(3):145-147.
- ^ Valkiūnas G., Zehtindjiev P., Dimitrov D., Krizanauskiene A., Iezhova T.A., Bensch S. (2008) Polymerase chain reaction-based identification of Plasmodium (Huffia) elongatum, with remarks on species identity of haemosporidian lineages deposited in GenBank. Parasitol. Res. 102(6):1185-1193.
- ^ Baillie SM, Brunton DH (2011) Diversity, distribution and biogeographical origins of Plasmodium parasites from the New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura). Parasitology 9:1-9
- ^ Murata K., Nii R., Sasaki E., Ishikawa S., Sato Y., Sawabe K., Tsuda Y., Matsumoto R., Suda A., Ueda M. (2008) Plasmodium (Bennettinia) juxtanucleare infection in a captive white eared-pheasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon) at a Japanese zoo. J. Vet. Med. Sci. 70(2):203-205
- ^ Christensen B.M., Barnes H.J., Rowley W.A. (1983) Vertebrate host specificity and experimental vectors of Plasmodium (Novyella) kempi sp. n. from the eastern wild turkey in Iowa. J. Wildl. Dis. 19(3):204-213
- ^ Manwell R.D. (1968) Plasmodium octamerium n. sp., an avian malaria parasite from the pintail whydah bird Vidua macroura. J. Protozool. 15(4):680-685
- ^ Valkiunas G., Iezhova T.A. (2001) A comparison of the blood parasites in three subspecies of the yellow wagtail Motacilla flava. J. Parasitol. 87(4):930-934.
- ^ Baillie SM, Brunton DH (2011) Diversity, distribution and biogeographical origins of Plasmodium parasites from the New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura). Parasitology 9:1-9
- ^ Poinar G. (2005) Plasmodium dominicana n. sp. (Plasmodiidae: Haemospororida) from Tertiary Dominican amber. Systematic Parasitol. 61 (1) 47-52
- ^ Manwell R.D. (1966) Plasmodium japonicum, P. juxtanucleare and P. nucleophilum in the Far East. J. Protozool. 13(1):8-11.