Abstract

A fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of avian malaria (genera Haemoproteus and Plasmodium) was amplified from blood samples of 12 species of passerine birds from the genera Acrocephalus, Phylloscopus and Parus. By sequencing 478 nucleotides of the obtained fragments, we found 17 different mitocholdrial haplotypes of Haemoproteus or Plasmodium among the 12 bird species investigated. Only one out of the: 17 haplotypes was found in more than one host species, this exception being a haplotype detected in both blue tits (Parus caeruleus) and great tits (Parus major). The phylogenetic tree which was constructed grouped the sequences into two clades, most probably representing Haemoproteus and Plasmodium, respectively. We found two to four different parasite mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes in four bird species. The phylogenetic tree obtained from the mtDNA of the parasites matched the phylogenetic tree of the bird hosts poorly For example, the two tit species and the willow warbler (Phylloscopus troclilus) carried parasites differing by only 0.6% sequence divergence, suggesting that Haemoproteus shift both between species within the same genus and also between species in different families. Hence, host shifts seem to have occurred repeatedly in this parasite-host system. We discuss this in terms of the possilble evolutionary consequences for these bird species.

Keywords

Acrocephalus; Phylloscopus; Parus; host-parasite coevolution; cytochrome b; malaria

Published in

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
2000, Volume: 267, number: 1452, pages: 1583-1589 Publisher: ROYAL SOC

SLU Authors

• Östman, Örjan

  • Department of Ecology and Crop Production Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1181

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/80313