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Diversity of avian blood parasites in wild passerines in Serbia with special reference to two new lineages

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Abstract

Avian haemosporidians are vector-transmitted blood parasites that are distributed worldwide, abundant in many bird families and well studied across Europe and North America. Since avian haemosporidians have been poorly examined in the Palearctic migratory flyways of the Western Balkans, the goal of this study was to investigate which species of three haemosporidian genera, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon, infect both resident and migratory passerines in Serbia. The prevalence, distribution and parasitaemia of avian haemosporidian infections were screened using both a nested PCR method and microscopy. Out of 202 birds sampled at seven localities, 66 were infected with haemosporidians, and the total prevalence was 32.7%. The great majority of infected birds (29 individuals) had moderate levels of parasitaemia. The most abundant haemosporidian genus was Haemoproteus at 26.1% prevalence. All infected birds were adults; none of the tested juveniles were infected. Mixed infection was only recorded in one bird. We identified 31 genetic lineages of haemosporidians. Two new cytochrome b lineages, of Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon, were identified and found in the hosts Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) and Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), respectively. We identified three new host records for previously known lineages. The lineage GRW06 (Plasmodium elongatum) occurred in Common Chaffinch, while the lineages PARUS20 and PARUS25 (Leucocytozoon sp.) were recorded in Willow Tit (Poecile montanus) and Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus), respectively. We found statistically significant differences in the prevalence of three haemosporidian genera among residents and partial migrants. The difference in mean parasitaemia was significant only between residents and partial migrants.

Zusammenfassung

Diversität der Blutparasiten bei wildlebenden Sperlingsvögeln in Serbien unter besonderer Beachtung zweier neuer Abstammungslinien

Vogel-Hämosporidien, weltweit verbreitete Blutparasiten, die durch Vektoren übertragen werden, kommen bei vielen Vogelfamilien häufig vor und sind in Europa und Nordamerika gut untersucht. Da über Vogel-Hämosporidien im paläarktischen Zugkorridor auf dem westlichen Balkan jedoch nur wenig bekannt ist, war das Ziel dieser Studie, herauszufinden, welche Arten der drei Hämosporidien-Gattungen Plasmodium, Haemoproteus und Leucocytozoon nicht-ziehende und ziehende Sperlingsvögel in Serbien infizieren. Die Prävalenz, die Verbreitung und die Parasitämie von Vogel-Hämosporidien-Infektionen wurden mit Hilfe von verschachtelter PCR und Mikroskopie ermittelt. Von 202 Vögeln, die an sieben Standorten beprobt wurden, waren 66 mit Hämosporidien infiziert. Die Gesamtprävalenz betrug 32,7%. Der Großteil der infizierten Vögel (29 Individuen) wies moderate Parasitämiespiegel auf. Die häufigste Hämosporidiengattung war Haemoproteus mit einer Prävalenz von 26,1%. Alle infizierten Tiere waren Altvögel, wohingegen keine der untersuchten Jungvögel infiziert waren. Eine gemischte Infektion wurde lediglich bei einem Vogel festgestellt. Wir haben 31 genetische Abstammungslinien von Hämosporidien-Parasiten identifiziert. Zwei neue Cytochrom b-Abstammungslinien von Plasmodium und Leucocytozoon wurden identifiziert und beim Buchfinken (Fringilla coelebs) und Pirolen (Oriolus oriolus) nachgewiesen. Zudem haben wir drei neue Wirte für zuvor bekannte Abstammungslinien identifiziert. Die Linie GRW06 (Plasmodium elongatum) kam bei Buchfinken vor, während die Linien PARUS20 und PARUS25 (Leucocytozoon sp.) bei Weidenmeisen (Poecile montanus) bzw. Haubenmeisen (Lophophanes cristatus) nachgewiesen wurden. Wir haben statistisch signifikante Unterschiede in der Prävalenz der drei Hämosporidiengattungen bei Standvögeln und Teilziehern gefunden. Der Unterschied in der mittleren Parasitämie war nur zwischen Standvögeln und Teilziehern signifikant.

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Acknowledgements

The laboratory work was partially supported by the Natural History Museum in Belgrade, Serbia and the Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden. Aleksandra Urošević is acknowledged for her help in the laboratory at the Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Serbia. We are thankful to Dr Staffan Bensch and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. We thank Dr Bojana Stanić for proofreading the manuscript and Nicola Crockford for correcting the English. The sampling in this study complies with the current legislation of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia.

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  1. Natural History Museum, Njegoševa 51, 1100, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

    Daliborka Stanković & Marko Raković

  2. Department of Biology, Ecology Building, Lund University, 2262, Lund, Sweden

    Jane Jönsson

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  1. Daliborka Stanković
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  2. Jane Jönsson
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Correspondence to Daliborka Stanković.

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Stanković, D., Jönsson, J. & Raković, M. Diversity of avian blood parasites in wild passerines in Serbia with special reference to two new lineages. J Ornithol 160, 545–555 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01628-z

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