Diversity and phylogenetic relationships of haemosporidian and hemogregarine parasites in Australian lizards

Katja E Boysen; Susan L Perkins; Sumitha Hunjan; Paul Oliver; Michael G Gardner; Shandiya Balasubramaniam; Jane Melville

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107358

Diversity and phylogenetic relationships of haemosporidian and hemogregarine parasites in Australian lizards

Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2022 Feb:167:107358. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107358. Epub 2021 Nov 10.

Authors

Katja E Boysen¹, Susan L Perkins², Sumitha Hunjan¹, Paul Oliver³, Michael G Gardner⁴, Shandiya Balasubramaniam¹, Jane Melville⁵

Affiliations

¹ Museums Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.
² Department of Biology, The City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, New York 10031, USA.
³ Biodiversity & Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia; Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University, Australia; School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
⁴ College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, Australia.
⁵ Museums Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Victoria 3800, Australia. Electronic address: jmelv@museum.vic.gov.au.

PMID: 34774764
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107358

Abstract

Apicomplexa is a large monophyletic phylum of unicellular, parasitic organisms. Reptiles are hosts to both haemosporidian (Haemosporida) and hemogregarine (Eucoccidiorida) apicomplexan blood parasites. Within reptiles our understanding of their diversity remains limited, with a paucity of information from Australia, despite a high diversity of squamates (snakes and lizards). We provide a preliminary assessment of haemosporidian and hemogregarine diversity occurring in lizards across northern tropical Australia, building on existing data with results from a microscopy and genetic assessment. We screened total of 233 blood slides using microscopy and detected hemogregarines in 25 geckos, 2 skinks and 1 agamid, while haemosporidians were detected in 13 geckos. DNA sequencing of 28 samples of the hemogregarine 18S rRNA (∼900 bp) nuclear gene revealed five lineages of Australian lizard hemogregarines within heteroxenous adeleids. We sequenced 10 samples of Haemosporida mtDNA (cytb & coI: ∼1313 bp) and phylogenetic analysis with 30 previously published sequences revealed that the Australian Haemosporida grouped within the Haemoproteidae but were not supported as a monophyletic clade. Our results demonstrate that there is significant undocumented evolutionary diversity in Australian lizard haemosporidian and hemogregarine parasites, with preliminary evidence of significantly higher infection rates in geckos.

Keywords: Apicomplexa; Australian lizards; Geckos; Haemocystidium; Haemogregarines; Haemosporida; Phylogenetic relationships; Reptile malaria.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Australia
Haemosporida* / genetics
Lizards* / genetics
Parasites*
Phylogeny