Molecular characterization of haemosporidian and haemogregarine diversity in southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles

Abstract

Abstract The knowledge of the diversity and geographic distribution of parasite species is the first step towards understanding processes of global epidemiology and species conservation. Despite recent increases in research on reptiles and amphibians haemosporidian and haemogregarine parasites, we still know little about their diversity and parasite-host interactions, especially in the Iberian Peninsula, where a few studies have been conducted. In this study, the haemosporidian and hemogregarine diversity and phylogenetic relationships of southwestern Iberian amphibians and reptiles were assessed using PCR approaches on 145 blood samples. The amphibians did not present any of both groups of parasites studied. Regarding the reptile species, six Hepatozoon and one Haemocystidum haplotypes were found infecting four different species, revealing new host records for these parasites. Among them, we found one new isolate Haemocystidium haplotype and three new isolates and a previously reported Hepatozoon haplotype from a north African snake. This finding suggests that some Hepatozoon parasites may not be host-specific and have large geographic ranges even crossing geographical barriers. These results increased the geographic distribution and the number of known host species of some reptile apicomplexan parasites, highlighting the great unexplored diversity of them in this region.