From Africa to Europe: evidence of transmission of a tropical Plasmodium lineage in Spanish populations of house sparrows

Martina Ferraguti,Josué Martínez-De La Puente,Jordi Figuerola,Ramón Soriguer,Luz García-Longoria,Alfonso Marzal

doi:10.1186/s13071-019-3804-1

Abstract

BackgroundAvian malaria parasites are a highly diverse group that commonly infect birds and have deleterious effects on their hosts. Some parasite lineages are geographically widespread and infect many host species in many regions. Bird migration, natural dispersal, invasive species and human-mediated introductions into areas where competent insect vectors are present, are probably the main drivers of the current distribution of avian malaria parasites.MethodsA total of 412 and 2588 wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus) were captured in 2012 and 2013 in two areas of the Iberian Peninsula (central and southern Spain, respectively). Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples; parasite lineages were sequenced and identified by comparing with GenBank and/or MalAvi databases.ResultsThirteen Plasmodium lineages were identified in house sparrows corresponding to three major clades. Five individuals were infected by the African Plasmodium lineage PAGRI02, which has been proposed to actively circulate only in Africa.ConclusionsDespite the low prevalence of PAGRI02 in sparrows in Spain, our results suggest that the area of transmission of this parasite is more widespread than previously thought and covers both Africa and Europe. Further studies of the global distribution of Plasmodium lineages infecting wild birds are required to identify the current transmission areas of these parasites. This is vital given the current scenario of global change that is providing new opportunities for avian malaria transmission into areas where parasites were previously absent.

Highlights

Avian malaria parasites are a highly diverse group that commonly infect birds and have deleterious effects on their hosts
The phylogenetic analysis of the Plasmodium sequences isolated in house sparrows from the study area revealed two main clades supported by high bootstrap (> 79) and that the
The PAGRI02 lineage differs by only 6 bp (99% identity) from the lineage PADOM16 belonging to Plasmodium rouxi (Additional file 1: Table S1), which

Summary

Introduction

Avian malaria parasites are a highly diverse group that commonly infect birds and have deleterious effects on their hosts. Haemosporidians belonging to the genus Plasmodium are widespread vector-borne protozoans that naturally infect birds on all continents except Antarctica [1] Species of this parasite genus harm vertebrate hosts by reducing their reproductive success [2, 3] and the survival rates of infected individuals [4,5,6]. The widespread Plasmodium relictum lineage GRW4 was accidentally introduced into the Hawaiian archipelago and, along with factors such as habitat destruction, urbanization and pollution, has led to a significant decline in native bird populations [1, 8] This parasite lineage is closely related to the P. relictum lineage SGS1, which, native to Europe, Africa and Asia [9], has recently

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