Abstract
Based on morphological and genetic characteristics, we describe a new species of Hepatozoon in the European wild cat (Felis silvestris silvestris), herein named Hepatozoon silvestris sp. nov. The study also provides the first data on the occurrence of H. felis in this wild felid. Hepatozoon meronts were observed in multiple cross-sections of different organs of four (44%) cats. Additionally, extracellular forms, resembling mature gamonts of Hepatozoon, were found in the spleen and myocardium of two cats. Furthermore, tissues of six animals (67%) were positive by PCR. Hepatozoon felis was identified infecting one cat (11%), whereas the 18S rRNA sequences of the remaining five cats (56%) were identical, but distinct from the sequences of H. felis. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that those sequences form a highly supported clade distant from other Hepatozoon spp. Future studies should include domestic cats from the areas where the wild cats positive for H. silvestris sp. nov. were found, in order to investigate their potential role to serve as intermediate hosts of this newly described species. Identification of its definitive host(s) and experimental transmission studies are required for elucidating the full life cycle of this parasite and the possible alternative routes of its transmission.
Highlights
Species of the genus Hepatozoon Miller (1908) are apicomplexan parasites that infect a wide range of vertebrate intermediate hosts, whereas haematophageous invertebrates may serve both as vectors and definitive hosts of these organisms (Smith, 1996)
Based on morphological and genetic characteristics, we describe a new species of Hepatozoon in the European wild cat (Felis silvestris silvestris), named Hepatozoon silvestris sp. nov
Our study reports the first detection of Hepatozoon spp. in European wild cats and clearly indicates the existence of two morphologically and genetically distinct species, namely H. felis and the newly characterized H. silvestris sp. nov
Summary
Species of the genus Hepatozoon Miller (1908) are apicomplexan parasites that infect a wide range of vertebrate intermediate hosts (i.e. mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, marsupials), whereas haematophageous invertebrates (e.g. ticks, mosquitoes, mites, sand flies, fleas) may serve both as vectors and definitive hosts of these organisms (Smith, 1996). Ingestion of the invertebrate host containing mature oocysts by the vertebrate host represents a main route of infection, transplacental transmission and transmission by predation have been reported (Murata et al 1993; Johnson et al 2009; Baneth et al 2013). To date more than 340 species of Hepatozoon have been described with less than 50 of them in mammals, but a complete and documented life cycle is available only for few of them (Smith, 1996; Baneth, 1998). Thereafter, it was transferred to the genus Hepatozoon due to the high morphological similarity of gamont stages found in the blood of cats to those of Hepatozoon canis, which mainly infects domestic and wild canids (Wenyon, 1926)
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