| 1. |
- Bensch, Staffan, et al.
(författare)
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The use of molecular methods in studies of avian haemosporidians
- 2020
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Ingår i: Avian Malaria and Related Parasites in the Tropics : Ecology, Evolution and Systematics - Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 9783030516321 - 9783030516338 ; , s. 113-135
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the last two decades, molecular methods to study mitochondrial DNA sequence variation have become an important part in the studies of avian haemosporidians. Up until recently, these methods have primarily been used for identification of the parasites and for tentative phylogenetic reconstructions, allowing researchers not trained in traditional parasitology to compare data across the globe. However, with the introduction of genome and transcriptome sequencing, studies are emerging that go deeper into the genetics and molecular biology of the parasites. In this chapter, we describe and summarize the common methods used for genetic barcoding of the parasites and give an introduction of what to take into account when designing a molecular study of avian haemosporidians. This chapter further discusses why nuclear genetic data are needed in order to answer several important ecological and evolutionary questions and which methods to use in order to overcome the obstacles of obtaining nuclear data of the parasites. Finally, this chapter highlights the challenges and opportunities that come with the use of molecular methods, such as how to study and interpret prevalence, the challenge of aborted developments, and how to obtain data for more robust phylogenies and population structure studies of the parasites.
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| 2. |
- Fecchio, Alan, et al.
(författare)
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Global drivers of avian haemosporidian infections vary across zoogeographical regions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 30:12, s. 2393-2406
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: Macroecological analyses provide valuable insights into factors that influence how parasites are distributed across space and among hosts. Amid large uncertainties that arise when generalizing from local and regional findings, hierarchical approaches applied to global datasets are required to determine whether drivers of parasite infection patterns vary across scales. We assessed global patterns of haemosporidian infections across a broad diversity of avian host clades and zoogeographical realms to depict hotspots of prevalence and to identify possible underlying drivers. Location: Global. Time period: 1994–2019. Major taxa studied: Avian haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon and Parahaemoproteus). Methods: We amalgamated infection data from 53,669 individual birds representing 2,445 species world-wide. Spatio-phylogenetic hierarchical Bayesian models were built to disentangle potential landscape, climatic and biotic drivers of infection probability while accounting for spatial context and avian host phylogenetic relationships. Results: Idiosyncratic responses of the three most common haemosporidian genera to climate, habitat, host relatedness and host ecological traits indicated marked variation in host infection rates from local to global scales. Notably, host ecological drivers, such as migration distance for Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus, exhibited predominantly varying or even opposite effects on infection rates across regions, whereas climatic effects on infection rates were more consistent across realms. Moreover, infections in some low-prevalence realms were disproportionately concentrated in a few local hotspots, suggesting that regional-scale variation in habitat and microclimate might influence transmission, in addition to global drivers. Main conclusions: Our hierarchical global analysis supports regional-scale findings showing the synergistic effects of landscape, climate and host ecological traits on parasite transmission for a cosmopolitan and diverse group of avian parasites. Our results underscore the need to account for such interactions, in addition to possible variation in drivers across regions, to produce the robust inference required to predict changes in infection risk under future scenarios.
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| 3. |
- Martínez-de la Puente, Josué, et al.
(författare)
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Plasmodium relictum
- 2021
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Ingår i: Trends in Parasitology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1471-4922. ; 37:4, s. 355-356
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)
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