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Detecting shifts of transmission areas in avian blood parasites — a phylogenetic approach
Author(s) -
HELLGREN OLOF,
WALDENSTRÖM JONAS,
PERÉZTRIS JAVIER,
SZÖLL ESZTER,
SI Ö,
HASSELQUIST DENNIS,
KRIZANAUSKIENE ASTA,
OTTOSSON ULF,
BENSCH STAFFAN
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03227.x
Subject(s) - leucocytozoon , biology , haemoproteus , plasmodium (life cycle) , phylogenetic tree , avian malaria , fauna , transmission (telecommunications) , ecology , zoology , bird migration , vector (molecular biology) , evolutionary biology , parasite hosting , malaria , plasmodium falciparum , gametocyte , genetics , recombinant dna , electrical engineering , immunology , world wide web , computer science , gene , engineering
We investigated the degree of geographical shifts of transmission areas of vector‐borne avian blood parasites ( Plasmodium , Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon ) over ecological and evolutionary timescales. Of 259 different parasite lineages obtained from 5886 screened birds sampled in Europe and Africa, only two lineages were confirmed to have current transmission in resident bird species in both geographical areas. We used a phylogenetic approach to show that parasites belonging to the genera Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon rarely change transmission area and that these parasites are restricted to one resident bird fauna over a long evolutionary time span and are not freely spread between the continents with the help of migratory birds. Lineages of the genus Plasmodium seem more freely spread between the continents. We suggest that such a reduced transmission barrier of Plasmodium parasites is caused by their higher tendency to infect migratory bird species, which might facilitate shifting of transmission area. Although vector‐borne parasites of these genera apparently can shift between a tropical and a temperate transmission area and these areas are linked with an immense amount of annual bird migration, our data suggest that novel introductions of these parasites into resident bird faunas are rather rare evolutionary events.