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Prevalence and genetic diversity of blood parasite mixed infections in Spanish terrapins, Mauremys leprosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2017

ALFONSO MARZAL ,
ALEJANDRO IBÁÑEZ Open the ORCID record for ALEJANDRO IBÁÑEZ [Opens in a new window] ,
MANUEL GONZÁLEZ-BLÁZQUEZ ,
PILAR LÓPEZ  and
JOSÉ MARTÍN
ALFONSO MARZAL*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Anatomía, Biología celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
ALEJANDRO IBÁÑEZ
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
MANUEL GONZÁLEZ-BLÁZQUEZ
Affiliation:
Departamento de Anatomía, Biología celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
PILAR LÓPEZ
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
JOSÉ MARTÍN
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author: Departamento de Anatomía, Biología celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain. E-mail: amarzal@unex.es
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Summary

Blood parasites such as haemogregarines and haemosporidians have been identified in almost all groups of vertebrates and may cause serious damages to their hosts. However, very little is known about biodiversity of these parasites and their effects on some groups of reptiles such as terrapins. Moreover, the information on virulence from blood parasites mixed infection is largely unknown in reptiles. With this aim, we investigated for the first time the prevalence and genetic diversity of blood parasites from one genus of haemoparasitic aplicomplexan (Hepatozoon) in two populations of Spanish terrapins (Mauremys leprosa), a semi-aquatic turtle from southwestern Europe with a vulnerable conservation status. We also examined the association between mixed blood parasite infection and indicators of health of terrapins (body condition, haematocrit values and immune response). Blood parasite infection with Hepatozoon spp was detected in 46·4% of 140 examined terrapins. The prevalence of blood parasites infection differed between populations. We found two different lineages of blood parasite, which have not been found in previous studies. Of the turtles with infection, 5·7% harboured mixed infection by the two lineages. There was no difference in body condition between uninfected, single-infected and mixed-infected turtles, but mixed-infected individuals had the lowest values of haematocrit, thus revealing the negative effects of blood parasite mixed infections. Immune response varied among terrapins with different infection status, where mixed infected individuals had higher immune response than uninfected or single-infected terrapins.

Keywords

body conditionhaematocritHepatozoonimmune response
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 144 , Issue 11 , September 2017 , pp. 1449 - 1457
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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