Abstract
The competence of insect vectors to transmit diseases plays a key role in host-parasite interactions and in the dynamics of avian malaria and other haemosporidian infections (Apicomplexa, Haemosporida). However, the presence of parasite DNA in the body of blood-sucking insects does not always constitute evidence for their competence as vectors. In this study, we investigate the susceptibility of wild-caught mosquitoes (Culex spp.) to complete sporogony of Plasmodium relictum (cyt b lineage SGS1) isolated from great tits (Parus major L., 1758). Adult female mosquitoes were collected with a CO2 bait trap overnight. A set of 50 mosquitoes was allowed to feed for 3 h at night on a single great tit infected with P. relictum. This trial was repeated on 6 different birds. The bloodfed mosquitoes that survived (n = 68) were dissected within 1–2 days (for ookinetes, n = 10) and 10–33 days post infection (for oocysts and sporozoites, n = 58) in order to confirm the respective parasite stages in their organs. The experiment confirmed the successful development of P. relictum (cyt b lineage SGS1) to the stage of sporozoites in Culex pipiens L., 1758 (n = 27) and in Culex modestus (n = 2). Our study provides the first evidence that C. modestus is a competent vector of P. relictum isolated from great tits, suggesting that this mosquito species could also play a role in the natural transmission of avian malaria.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr. Chiara Marchetti and Prof. Boyko Georgiev for their valuable comments on the English language and to both anonymous reviewers and the Section Editor for their constructive comments and suggestions on the manuscript. We thank Zubera Ismail and Ljatif Ismail for their help with the fieldwork.
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The study was funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund (DN 01/6).
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Dimitar Dimitrov, Martin Petrov Marinov, and Pavel Zehtindjiev designed the study; Dimitar Dimitrov and Martin Petrov Marinov performed the fieldwork and the experiments; Dimitar Dimitrov did dissections of the insects and microscopic examination; Aneliya Bobeva organized and performed the molecular lab work. Mihaela Ilieva and Dimitar Dimitrov drafted the manuscript. All authors contributed with final review of the manuscript.
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Dimitrov, D., Bobeva, A., Marinov, M.P. et al. First evidence for development of Plasmodium relictum (Grassi and Feletti, 1891) sporozoites in the salivary glands of Culex modestus Ficalbi, 1889. Parasitol Res 122, 1689–1693 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07853-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07853-z