Abstract
Although a number of new species of Babesia/Theileria have been described recently, there are still relatively few reports of species from Africa. In this study based on the evaluation of morphology and phylogenetic relationships, we describe a novel species from Wagner’s gerbil, Babesia behnkei n. sp. Rodents (n = 1021) were sampled in four montane valleys (wadies) in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 in the Sinai Mountains, Egypt. The overall prevalence of Babesia spp. was highest in the Wagner’s gerbil (Dipodillus dasyurus; 38.7%) in comparison to the prevalence in the spiny mice species, Acomys dimidiatus and A. russatus. Morphological investigations were conducted for the comparison of trophozoites of the novel species of Babesia with the B. microti King’s 67 reference strain. Thirty-two isolates derived from D. dasyurus over a 9 year period (2004-2012) from two wadies (29 isolates from Wadi Gebel and 3 from Wadi El-Arbaein) were investigated by microscopic, molecular and phylogenetic analysis. A near-full-length sequence of the 18S rRNA gene and the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region were amplified, sequenced and used for the construction of phylogenetic trees. A novel species of Babesia was identified in two isolated populations of D. dasyurus. Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA and ITS2 sequences revealed that B. behnkei n. sp. is most closely related to B. lengau from cheetahs from South Africa and to Nearctic species found only in North America (the pathogenic B. duncani and B. conradae) and that it is more distant to the cosmopolitan rodent parasite B. microti. Trophozoites of B. behnkei were smaller and less polymorphic than trophozoites of B. microti. Babesia behnkei n. sp. is a novel species of the ‘Duncani group’ maintained in isolated populations of Dipodillus dasyurus occurring in the Sinai Mountains of Egypt.
Highlights
A number of new species of Babesia/Theileria have been described recently, there are still relatively few reports of species from Africa
Even in the last two decades new species have been added to the list, e.g. B. venatorum in humans in Europe, B. benneti in the yellow-legged gull [3], B. hongkongensis in feral cats in Hongkong [4] and a novel Babesia/Theileria species from marsupials in Australia [5]
Putative new species of Babesia/Theileria have been reported from sable antelopes [10] and wild felids from Kenya [11]
Summary
A number of new species of Babesia/Theileria have been described recently, there are still relatively few reports of species from Africa. In contrast to the rest of the world, relatively few new species have been described from African hosts in recent years, including for example B. lengau from cheetahs [6], B. bicornis from black rhinoceros [7], B. ugwidiensis from cormorants [8] and B. leo from lions [9]. Putative new species of Babesia/Theileria have been reported from sable antelopes [10] and wild felids from Kenya [11]. It is pertinent that new species of Babesia (and presumably other haemoparasites) are often discovered at post-mortem examinations, especially in the case of endangered host species such as the sable antelope and the black rhinoceros
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