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Absence of haemosporidian parasite infections in the long-lived Cory’s shearwater: evidence from molecular analyses and review of the literature

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Abstract

The apparent scarcity or absence of blood parasites in some avian groups, such as seabirds, has been related to intrinsic and extrinsic factors including host immunological capacity, host-parasite assemblage, and ecological parameters, but also to reduced sensitivity of some methods to detect low parasite prevalence/intensities of infection. Here, we examined the haemosporidian parasite prevalence in a breeding population of Cory’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea borealis, a long-distance migrant seabird, nesting in the Macaronesian region, in the Eastern Atlantic. Previous studies on Calonectris diomedea complex were based on small sample sizes providing weak evidence for a lack of infections by haemoparasites. Here, we investigated the presence of both parasite infections in C. d. borealis and larvae of potential mosquito vectors on the area. By employing a PCR-based assay, we extensively examined the prevalence of blood parasites belonging to the genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon in 286 individuals from different life stages (i.e., chicks, immatures, sabbatical, and breeding adults), facing their specific energetic trade-offs (immunological functions vs. life history activities). We sampled immatures and adult shearwaters, of different sexes, ages, and migratory origins, from two sub-colonies. None of the sampled individuals were infected by these parasites, supporting the hypothesis that there was no in situ or ex situ transmission of vector-borne parasites in marine habitats irrespective of host’s life stage and in spite of the presence of the potential Plasmodium vector Culiseta longiareolata breeding in the area. These results suggest that the lack of transmission of haemosporidian parasites on Selvagem Grande may be related to the lack of suitable dipteran vectors at the study sites, which may result from the geographic isolation of this area.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to R. Furtado, C. Mateus, and B. Reis for their help in the fieldwork and to I. Martin and L. Gomez for their help in the laboratory. We are grateful to Bill Chobotar and one anonymous referee for their valuable suggestions which improved this manuscript. We are also grateful to Y. M. Gonçalves from Museu de História Natural do Funchal for the identification of the mosquito larvae. Instituto das Florestas e da Conservação da Natureza, particularly P. Oliveira, D. Menezes, and C.S. Jardim, made fieldwork on the Selvagens possible.

Funding

This study was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the grant awarded to L.C. (FCT-SFRH/BPD/89904/2012) and Grant CGL2015-65055-P from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad and European Regional Developments funds (FEDER) to JF. JMP was partially supported by a 2017 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators, BBVA Foundation. The Foundation accepts no responsibility for the opinions, statements, and contents included in the project and/or the results thereof, which are entirely the responsibility of the authors. MCS was supported by the post-doctoral research fellowship FCT-SFRH/BPD/85700/2012. Moreover, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT Portugal) provided financial support through the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to MARE and the projects IF/00502/2013/CP1186/CT0003 and PTDC/BIA-ANM/3743/2014, UID/AMB/50017 to CESAM (with co-funding by FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020) and PTDC/MAR-PRO/0929/2014.

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Correspondence to Letizia Campioni.

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All work was approved by the relevant authorities: Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e da Biodiversidade and Serviço do Parque Natural da Madeira (annual research permit including animal manipulation and ringing: number 5/2014S).

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Campioni, L., Martínez-de la Puente, J., Figuerola, J. et al. Absence of haemosporidian parasite infections in the long-lived Cory’s shearwater: evidence from molecular analyses and review of the literature. Parasitol Res 117, 323–329 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-017-5676-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-017-5676-7

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