Abstract
Renschetrematidae is a very small family of digeneans parasitic in bats in southern and Southeast Asia. According to the original descriptions and the latest revision, its representatives are characterized by the presence of several unusual characters. Among them are the dorsal position of the genital pores, separate male and female genital pores, and the presence of an accessory sac (stylet pouch) associated with terminal genitalia and containing a stylet-like structure. Prior to our study, the phylogenetic relationships of the Renschetrematidae were unknown and DNA sequence data were absent from any of its representatives. In this work, we present the description of a new species of Renschetrema from bats in the Philippines. We also evaluate the phylogenetic affinities of the Renschetrematidae using newly obtained partial sequences of the 28S rRNA gene from Renschetrema specimens collected in the Philippines and Southeast China. The new species differs from previously described species by the position and orientations of the stylet pouch, presence of accessory spines around genital atrium, position of gonads, body shape and relative size of pharynx and oral sucker. Our phylogenetic analysis supports the status of the Renschetrematidae as an independent family within the superfamily Microphalloidea. In the phylogenetic tree, the Renschetrematidae appeared as an independent family-level lineage, basal to the remaining taxa within the Microphalloidea. Detailed examination of our specimens revealed significant errors in the current diagnoses of the genus Renschetrema and the Renschetrematidae. Amended diagnoses of the genus and the family are provided.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bell, J. A., Gonzalez-Acuna, D., & Tkach, V. V. (2018). First record of Gyrabascus (Digenea, Pleurogenidae) from Dromiciops bozinovici D'Elia et al., 2016 (Marsupialia: Microbiotheriidae) in Chile and its phylogenetic relationships. Comparative Parasitology, 85, 58–65. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1654/1525-2647-85.1.58
Bowles, J., Blair, D., & McManus, D. P. (1995). A molecular phylogeny of the human schistosomes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 4, 103–109. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/mpev.1995.1011
Deblock, S. (2008) Family Microphallidae Ward, 1901. In: R. A. Bray, D. I. Gibson, & A. Jones (Eds.), Keys to Trematoda, Volume 3 (pp. 451–492). CABI Publishing.
Fernandes, T. F., Santos, J. N., Melo, F. T. V., Achatz, T. J., McAllister, C. T., Bonilla, C. C., & Tkach, V.V. (2022). Phylogenetic relationships of Ochoterenatrema Caballero, 1943 (Digenea: Lecithodendriidae) with descriptions of two new species. Parasitology International, 89, 102575. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parint.2022.102575
Kanarek, G. Zalesny, G., Sitko, J., & Tkach, V. V. (2014). Phylogenetic relationships and systematic position of the families Cortrematidae and Phaneropsolidae (Platyhelminthes: Digenea). Folia Parasitologica, 61, 523–528. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2014.057
Kanarek, G. Zalesny, G., Sitko, J., & Tkach, V. V. (2017). The systematic position and structure of the genus Leyogonimus Ginetsinskaya, 1948 (Platyhelminthes: Digenea) with comments on the taxonomy of the superfamily Microphalloidea Ward, 1901. Acta Parasitologica, 62, 617–624. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/ap-2017-0075
Kifune, T. (1984). Trematoda of Some Indian Bats with Description of a New Renschetrema (Digenean: Microphallidae). Bulletin of the National Science Museum, 10, 159–163.
Kumar, S. Stecher, G., & Tamura, K. (2016). MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 33, 1870–1874. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw054
Bray, R.A. (2008) Superfamily Microphalloidea Ward, 1901. In: R. A. Bray, D. I. Gibson, & A. Jones (Eds.), Keys to Trematoda, Volume 3 (pp. 547–450). CABI Publishing.
Lutz, H. L., Tkach, V. V., & Weckstein, J. D. (2017). Methods for specimen-based studies of avian symbionts. In: M. Webster (Ed.), The Role of Collections in Ornithology: The Extended Specimen. Studies in Avian Biology. (pp. 127–183). CRC Press.
Matskasi, I. (1973). Flukes from Bats in Vietnam. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 19, 339–359.
Olson, P. D., Cribb, T. H., Tkach, V. V., Bray, R. A., & Littlewood, D. T. J. (2003). Phylogeny and classification of the Digenea (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda). International Journal for Parasitology, 33, 733–755. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7519(03)00049-3
Rohde, K. (1964). Eine neue Trematodengattung (Renschetrema, Microphallidae) mit drei Arten aus dem Darm malayischer Fledermäuse. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde, 24, 13–22. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00260419
Ronquist, F., & Huelsenbeck, J. P. (2003). MRBAYES 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models. Bioinformatics, 19, 1572–1574. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btg180
Tkach, V. V., Littlewood, D. T. J., Olson, P. D., Kinsella, J. M., & Świderski, Z. (2003). Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Microphalloidea Ward, 1901 (Trematoda: Digenea). Systematic Parasitology, 56, 1–15. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025546001611
Tkach, V. V., & Pawlowski, J. (1999). A new method of DNA extraction from the ethanol-fixed parasitic worms. Acta Parasitologica, 44, 147–148.
Yamaguti, A. (1971). Synopsis of digenetic trematodes of vertebrates. Keigaku Publishing Company.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources and government units of the Aurora Province who have supported our field research. We are grateful to Dr. Sarah Bush (University of Utah, Salt Lake City) and Dr. Rafe Brown (University of Kansas, Lawrence) for the organization and logistic support of the expedition, and to our field collaborators, especially to Dr. Katharina Dittmar, Nonito Antoque and Jerry Cantil who were instrumental in collecting bats. VVT's fieldwork in the Philippines was supported by the National Science Foundation grant DEB 0743491 to R. M. Brown, S. E. Bush, D. H. Clayton, and R. G. Moyle. TPC was supported by the National Science Foundation REU Site grant 1852459 and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health Institutional Development Award (IDeA) grant P20GM103442 to the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences. TPC also received support from the Department of Biology and the College of Arts & Sciences of the University of North Dakota.
Funding
Funding was provided by National Science Foundation (REU Site grant 1852459, DEB 0743491), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P20GM103442), and SYNTHESYS+ (823827).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
TPC and VVT equally worked on obtaining molecular data and prepared text and illustrations. TPC conducted phylogenetic analysis and VVT collected specimens in the field.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval
All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Suppl. Fig. S1
Phylogenetic relationships among 28 taxa of the Microphalloidea and 12 taxa of the Plagiorchioidea resulting from Bayesian analysis of partial sequences of the 28S rRNA gene. Posterior probabilities greater than 80% are shown above internodes. Renschetrema species sequenced in the present study are in bold. Abbreviations: Bra, Brachycoeliidae; Cho, Choanocotylidae; Col, Collyriclidae; Hae, Haematoloechidae; Lec, Lecithodendriidae; Mic, Microphallidae; Pha, Phaneropsolidae; Pla, Plagiorchiidae; Ple, Pleurogenidae; Pro, Prosthogonimidae; Ren, Renschetrematidae; Sto, Stomylotrematidae; Tel, Telorchiidae. Supplementary file1 (TIF 972 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chermak, T.P., Tkach, V.V. Phylogenetic relationships of the Renschetrematidae Yamaguti, 1971 with description of a new species of Renschetrema Rohde, 1964 from the Philippines. Syst Parasitol 99, 637–646 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-022-10052-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-022-10052-6