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de Angeli Dutra D, Khan AU, Ferreira FC, Beirão MV, Pichorim M, Moreira PA, Braga ÉM. Host phylogeny and seasonality shapes avian haemosporidian prevalence in a Brazilian biodiverse and dry forest: the Caatinga. Parasitology 2023; 150:1277-1285. [PMID: 37246557 PMCID: PMC10941212 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182023000549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The relationships between host phylogenetics, functional traits and parasites in wildlife remain poorly understood in the Neotropics, especially in habitats with marked seasonal variation. Here, we examined the effect of seasonality and host functional traits on the prevalence of avian haemosporidians (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in the Brazilian Caatinga, a seasonally dry tropical forest. 933 birds were evaluated for haemosporidian infections. We found a high parasitism prevalence (51.2%), which was correlated with phylogenetic relatedness among avian species. Prevalence varied drastically among the 20 well-sampled species, ranging from 0 to 70%. Seasonality was the main factor associated with infections, but how this abiotic condition influenced parasite prevalence varied according to the host-parasite system. Plasmodium prevalence increased during the rainy season and, after excluding the large sample size of Columbiformes (n = 462/933), Plasmodium infection rate was maintained high in the wet season and showed a negative association with host body mass. No association was found between non-Columbiform bird prevalence and seasonality or body mass when evaluating both Plasmodium and Haemoproteus or only Haemoproteus infections. Parasite community was composed of 32 lineages including 7 new lineages. We evidenced that even dry domains can harbour a high prevalence and diversity of vector-borne parasites and pointed out seasonality as a ruling factor.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Asmat U Khan
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
- Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal Dir Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Francisco C Ferreira
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Schubot Centre for Avian Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Marina V Beirão
- Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil
| | - Mauro Pichorim
- Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia, Ciências de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil
| | - Patrícia A Moreira
- Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil
| | - Érika M Braga
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
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Fecchio A, Ribeiro RM, Ferreira FC, de Angeli Dutra D, Tolesano-Pascoli G, Alquezar RD, Khan AU, Pichorim M, Moreira PA, Costa-Nascimento MJ, Monteiro EF, Mathias BS, Guimarães LO, Simões RF, Braga ÉM, Kirchgatter K, Dias RI. Higher infection probability of haemosporidian parasites in Blue-black Grassquits (Volatinia jacarina) inhabiting native vegetation across Brazil. Parasitol Int 2020; 80:102204. [PMID: 33045411 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2020.102204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 07/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Human induced changes on landscape can alter the biotic and abiotic factors that influence the transmission of vector-borne parasites. To examine how infection rates of vector-transmitted parasites respond to changes on natural landscapes, we captured 330 Blue-black Grassquits (Volatinia jacarina) in Brazilian biomes and assessed the prevalence and diversity of avian haemosporidian parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) across avian host populations inhabiting environment under different disturbance and climatic conditions. Overall prevalence in Blue-black Grassquits was low (11%) and infection rates exhibited considerable spatial variation, ranging from zero to 39%. Based on genetic divergence of cytochrome b gene, we found two lineages of Haemoproteus (Parahaemoproteus) and 10 of Plasmodium. We showed that Blue-black Grassquit populations inhabiting sites with higher proportion of native vegetation cover were more infected across Brazil. Other landscape metrics (number of water bodies and distance to urban areas) and climatic condition (temperature and precipitation) known to influence vector activity and promote avian malaria transmission did not explain infection probability in Blue-black Grassquit populations. Moreover, breeding season did not explain prevalence across avian host populations. Our findings suggest that avian haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in Blue-black Grassquit populations are determined by recent anthropogenic changes in vegetation cover that may alter microclimate, thus influencing vector activity and parasite transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Fecchio
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil.
| | - Rayanne M Ribeiro
- Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde, Centro Universitário de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | - Francisco C Ferreira
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA; Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA; Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Daniela de Angeli Dutra
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil; Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Graziela Tolesano-Pascoli
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil
| | - Renata D Alquezar
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília 70919-970, DF, Brazil
| | - Asmat U Khan
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil; Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir (Upper) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Mauro Pichorim
- Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
| | - Patrícia A Moreira
- Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil
| | | | - Eliana F Monteiro
- Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/IMT-USP, São Paulo, SP 05403-000, Brazil
| | - Bruno S Mathias
- Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/IMT-USP, São Paulo, SP 05403-000, Brazil
| | - Lilian O Guimarães
- Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/IMT-USP, São Paulo, SP 05403-000, Brazil
| | - Roseli F Simões
- Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/IMT-USP, São Paulo, SP 05403-000, Brazil
| | - Érika M Braga
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Karin Kirchgatter
- Superintendência de Controle de Endemias/IMT-USP, São Paulo, SP 05403-000, Brazil
| | - Raphael I Dias
- Faculdade de Ciências da Educação e Saúde, Centro Universitário de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil; Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil
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Lopes VL, Costa FV, Rodrigues RA, Braga ÉM, Pichorim M, Moreira PA. High fidelity defines the temporal consistency of host-parasite interactions in a tropical coastal ecosystem. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16839. [PMID: 33033317 PMCID: PMC7545182 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73563-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Host-parasite interactions represent a selective force that may reduce hosts’ lifespan, their reproductive success and survival. Environmental conditions can affect host-parasite communities, leading to distinct patterns of interactions with divergent ecological and evolutionary consequences for their persistence. Here, we tested whether climatic oscillation shapes the temporal dynamics of bird-haemosporidian associations, assessing the main mechanisms involved in the temporal dissimilarity of their interactions’ networks. For two years, we monthly sampled birds in a tropical coastal ecosystem to avian malaria molecular diagnosis. The studied networks exhibited high specialization, medium modularity, with low niche overlap among parasites lineages. Moreover, alpha and β-diversity of hosts, parasites and their interactions, as well as the structure of their networks were temporally consistent, i.e., stable under fluctuations in temperature or precipitation over seasons. The structure and temporal consistency of the studied antagonistic networks suggest a high fidelity between partners, which is likely relevant for their evolutionary persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- V L Lopes
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto - UFOP, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil.,Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto - UFOP, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil
| | - F V Costa
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto - UFOP, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - R A Rodrigues
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - É M Braga
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - M Pichorim
- Laboratório de Ornitologia, Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte - UFRN, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
| | - P A Moreira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto - UFOP, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil. .,Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto - UFOP, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil.
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Cota LG, Moreira PA, Brandão MM, Royo VA, Junior AFM, Menezes EV, Oliveira DA. Structure and genetic diversity of Anacardium humile (Anacardiaceae): a tropical shrub. Genet Mol Res 2017; 16:gmr-16-03-gmr.16039778. [PMID: 28973757 DOI: 10.4238/gmr16039778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Anacardium humile Saint Hilaire is a tropical shrub native to the Cerrado biome. It is a fruiting species with biological, medicinal, and socioeconomic significance. Thus, knowing how the genetic variability of natural populations is organized allows for the establishment of strategies for conservation and the sustainable use of the species and its biome. Six microsatellite loci previously developed from Anacardium occidentale were used to investigate the spatial genetic structure and genetic diversity of eight natural A. humile populations based on analyses of 242 adult plants. The results obtained indicate that these populations show a high level of genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity = 0.710). The endogamy coefficient was positive and significant for most populations, with a mean of 0.142 (P = 0.001). The genetic differentiation between populations was low (θ = 0.075 and GST = 0.066) but significant (P = 0.0001). The genotypes of five of the eight populations were non-randomly distributed with clusters of related plants for which the coancestry values were positive and significant. These populations exhibited high and significant endogamy indices. The results obtained for A. humile populations show that genetic conservation programs should be implemented to maintain this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- L G Cota
- Laboratório de Bioprospecção e Recursos Genéticos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Campus Universitário Professor Darcy Ribeiro, , Brasil
| | - P A Moreira
- Departamento de Biologia, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, , Brasil
| | - M M Brandão
- Laboratório de Bioprospecção e Recursos Genéticos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Campus Universitário Professor Darcy Ribeiro, , Brasil
| | - V A Royo
- Laboratório de Bioprospecção e Recursos Genéticos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Campus Universitário Professor Darcy Ribeiro, , Brasil
| | - A F Melo Junior
- Laboratório de Bioprospecção e Recursos Genéticos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Campus Universitário Professor Darcy Ribeiro, , Brasil
| | - E V Menezes
- Laboratório de Bioprospecção e Recursos Genéticos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Campus Universitário Professor Darcy Ribeiro, , Brasil
| | - D A Oliveira
- Laboratório de Bioprospecção e Recursos Genéticos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Campus Universitário Professor Darcy Ribeiro, , Brasil
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Teixeira VH, Valente HF, Casal SI, Marques FP, Moreira PA. Blood antioxidant and oxidative stress biomarkers acute responses to a 1000-m kayak sprint in elite male kayakers. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2013; 53:71-79. [PMID: 23470914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
AIM This study aimed to investigate the response of blood antioxidants and biomarkers of lipid peroxidation, muscle damage and inflammation to a 1000m kayak trial in elite male kayakers. METHODS Enzymatic (superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione reductase [Gr] and glutathione peroxidase [GPx] activities) and non-enzymatic (total antioxidant status [TAS], uric acid, α-tocopherol, α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene and lutein and zeaxanthin) antioxidants, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), creatine kinase (CK), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and cortisol were determined in 15 elite male kayakers before and 15 min after a 1000-m kayak simulated race. RESULTS Both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants were unaffected by exercise, with the exception of α-carotene which decreased (P=0.013). Uric acid levels were incremented following exercise (P=0.016). The acute exercise resulted in a significant decrease in TAS (P=0.001) and in an increase in CK (P=0.023), TBARS (P<0.001) and IL-6 (P=0.028). CONCLUSION Our study suggests that a 1000-m kayak simulated race induces oxidative stress and damage in highly-trained kayakers.
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Affiliation(s)
- V H Teixeira
- Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
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Cota LG, Moreira PA, Menezes EV, Gomes AS, Ericsson ARO, Oliveira DA, Melo AF. Transferability and characterization of simple sequence repeat markers from Anacardium occidentale to A. humile (Anacardiaceae). Genet Mol Res 2012; 11:4609-16. [PMID: 23096925 DOI: 10.4238/2012.october.17.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Use of molecular markers can be limited by the high cost and extensive time required for their development. Transfer of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers reduces the cost and time limitations and has allowed the use of these markers in a larger number of species. We tested 11 SSR markers previously developed for Anacardium occidentale on A. humile. The 11 loci were successfully amplified in A. humile. All loci were polymorphic and generated a mean of 5.4 alleles per locus. The observed heterozygosity was lower than the expected heterozygosity under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for most loci, with mean values of 0.463 and 0.696, respectively. The endogamy coefficients were positive and significant for seven loci. However, the combined probability of paternity exclusion was high, and the combined probability of genetic identity was low. None of the pairs of loci were in linkage disequilibrium. The informative power of these loci demonstrates that they are suitable for studies of diversity and genetic structure of natural populations of A. humile. In addition, the loci are suitable for estimating gene flow between populations, assessing species crossing preferences, and performing interspecific comparisons.
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Affiliation(s)
- L G Cota
- Laboratório de Bioprospecção e Recursos Genéticos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, MG, Brasil
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Moreira PA, Sousa SAS, Oliveira FA, Araújo NH, Fernandes GW, Oliveira DA. Characterization of nine transferred SSR markers in the tropical tree species Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Fabaceae). Genet Mol Res 2012; 11:3729-34. [PMID: 22930434 DOI: 10.4238/2012.august.17.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Transfer of molecular markers is widely used in conservation genetic studies. We investigated the transferability of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed for Enterolobium cyclocarpum to E. contortisiliquum, a tropical tree widely distributed in dry forests. A set of 9 evaluated SSR markers were amplified in E. contortisiliquum and the degree of polymorphism was assessed in 8 trees sampled from each of 5 populations from central Brazil. All loci were polymorphic and the mean number of alleles for all loci was 6. In addition, all pairs of SSR markers were in linkage equilibrium. For most loci, the observed heterozygosity was higher than the expected heterozygosity under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with fixation indices not significantly different from zero. The combined probability of paternity exclusion was high and the probability of identity was very low. We conclude that these SSR markers developed for E. cyclocarpum are applicable for genetic studies of E. contortisiliquum.
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Affiliation(s)
- P A Moreira
- Laboratório de Ecologia Evolutiva e Biodiversidade, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND High levels of total plasma homocysteine are potentially harmful in the elderly. OBJECTIVE To investigated the effects of oral riboflavin supplementation on plasma total homocysteine, ferritin, uric acid and C-reactive protein concentration in elderly people with a low riboflavin status. We performed a four-week randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of riboflavin supplementation in seven Portuguese day social centers. DESIGN Eighty-eight individuals (66.7% female), aged between 60 and 94 years, volunteered to participate in the study following interview. Forty-two subjects, with an erythrocyte glutathione reductase activation coefficient (EGRAC) >or= 1.2, were included in the intervention trial. All subjects gave informed consent. Study subjects were administered 10 mg riboflavin (n=21) or placebo (n=21) each day for 28 days. RESULTS Riboflavin supplementation significantly decreased plasma tHcy (P=0.005) and EGRAC (P=0.014), but not plasma ferritin, uric acid or C-reactive protein. CONCLUSIONS In this elderly group, we found that 10 mg/day oral riboflavin supplementation lowered plasma homocysteine concentrations in subjects with low riboflavin status.
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Affiliation(s)
- N R Tavares
- Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
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