Sarcocystid Misidentified as Hepatozoon didelphydis: Molecular Data from a Parasitic Infection in the Blood of the Southern Mouse Opossum (Thylamys elegans) from Chile

The blood of 21 adult South American mouse opossums (Thylamys elegans) captured from April through August of 2005 in central Chile was examined for parasites. Light microscopic analysis of blood smears initially suggested that a highly pleomorphic Hepatozoon species typical of American opossums was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of eukaryotic microbiology 2008-11, Vol.55 (6), p.536-540
Main Authors: MERINO, SANTIAGO, VÁSQUEZ, RODRIGO A, MARTÍNEZ, JAVIER, CELIS-DIEZ, JUAN L, MARTÍNEZ-DE LA PUENTE, JOSUÉ, MARÍN-VIAL, PAULA, SÁNCHEZ-MONSALVEZ, INOCENCIA, PEIRCE, MICHAEL A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adeleorina
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Central Chile
Chile
Coccidiosis - parasitology
Coccidiosis - veterinary
coccidium
DNA, Protozoan - genetics
DNA, Ribosomal - genetics
Erythrocytes - parasitology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Haemogregarina
Hepatozoon
marsupial
Marsupialia
Molecular Sequence Data
Opossums - parasitology
parasite
parasites
Phylogeny
Protozoa
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S - genetics
Sarcocystidae
Sarcocystidae - classification
Sarcocystidae - genetics
Sarcocystidae - isolation & purification
Systematics. Geographical distribution. Morphology. Cytology
Yaca
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Description
Summary:The blood of 21 adult South American mouse opossums (Thylamys elegans) captured from April through August of 2005 in central Chile was examined for parasites. Light microscopic analysis of blood smears initially suggested that a highly pleomorphic Hepatozoon species typical of American opossums was infecting erythrocytes. Unexpectedly, amplification by PCR and sequencing of a DNA fragment of the small subunit rDNA combined with phylogenetic analyses indicated that the parasite is not a member of the suborder Adeleorina, which includes the Haemogregarina and Hepatozoon species, but that it is a clearly distinct member of the suborder Eimeriorina, which includes the cyst-forming family Sarcocystidae. Therefore, a reclassification of this unusual intraerythrocytic apicomplexan will require additional life cycle, microscopic, and molecular analyses.
ISSN:1066-5234
1550-7408
DOI:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2008.00358.x