Abstract
Protozoan parasites of the genus Sarcocystis are obligatory heteroxenous cyst-forming coccidia that infect a wide variety of animals and encompass approximately 200 described species. At least four Sarcocystis spp. (S. falcatula, S. neurona, S. lindsayi and S. speeri) use opossums (Didelphis spp.) as definitive hosts, and two of them, S. neurona and S. falcatula, are known to cause disease in horses and birds, respectively. Opossums are restricted to the Americas, but their distribution in the Americas is heterogeneous. Five Didelphis spp. are distributed in South America (D. aurita, D. albiventris, D. marsupialis, D. imperfecta and D. pernigra) whereas just one opossum species (D. virginiana) is found in North America. Studies conducted in the last decades show that Sarcocystis spp., derived from South American Didelphis spp., have biological and genetic differences in relation to Sarcocystis spp. shed by the North American opossum D. virginiana. The aim of this review was to address the peculiar scenario of Sarcocystis species shed by South American opossums, with a special focus on diagnosis, epidemiology, and animal infections, as well as the genetic characteristics of these parasites.
Highlights
Sarcocystis spp. are obligatory cyst-forming Apicomplexan parasites that infect a broad spectrum of animal hosts (Levine, 1986)
The differences and diversity of Sarcocystis spp. in South America may be partly related to the existence of five Didelphis spp. that may act as definitive hosts in this region (Didelphis aurita, D. albiventris, D. marsupialis, D. imperfecta and D. pernigra), contrasting with North America, where only one species of opossum is found (D. virginiana) (Cerqueira, 1985; Lemos & Cerqueira, 2002)
Sarcocystis falcatula and S. lindsayi are infective for birds while S. neurona and S. speeri are infective for mice (Dubey et al, 2016)
Summary
Sarcocystis spp. are obligatory cyst-forming Apicomplexan parasites that infect a broad spectrum of animal hosts (Levine, 1986). Numerous studies have shown that Sarcocystis spp. shed by South American opossums differ, in several aspects, from those found in North America (Acosta et al, 2018; Cesar et al, 2018; Gondim et al, 2019; Gondim et al, 2017; Valadas et al, 2016). The differences and diversity of Sarcocystis spp. in South America may be partly related to the existence of five Didelphis spp. that may act as definitive hosts in this region (Didelphis aurita, D. albiventris, D. marsupialis, D. imperfecta and D. pernigra), contrasting with North America, where only one species of opossum is found (D. virginiana) (Cerqueira, 1985; Lemos & Cerqueira, 2002). The diversity of South American fauna acting as intermediate hosts for Sarcocystis spp. is higher than that of North America, which allows a potentially elevated degree of genetic recombination in South American opossums
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