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Molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of Hepatozoon spp. in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks and rodents from Slovakia and Czech Republic

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Abstract

By amplification and sequencing of 18S rRNA gene fragments, Hepatozoon spp. DNA was detected in 0.08 % (4/5057) and 0.04 % (1/2473) of questing Ixodes ricinus ticks from Slovakia and Czech Republic, respectively. Hepatozoon spp. DNA was also detected in spleen and/or lungs of 4.45 % (27/606) of rodents from Slovakia. Prevalence of infection was significantly higher in Myodes glareolus (11.45 %) than in Apodemus spp. (0.28 %) (P < 0.001). Sequencing of 18S rRNA Hepatozoon spp. gene amplicons from I. ricinus showed 100 % identity with Hepatozoon canis isolates from red foxes or dogs in Europe. Phylogenetic analysis showed that at least two H. canis 18S rRNA genotypes exist in Slovakia of which one was identified also in the Czech Republic. The finding of H. canis in questing I. ricinus suggests the geographical spread of the parasite and a potential role of other ticks as its vectors in areas where Rhipicephalus sanguineus is not endemic. Sequencing of 18S rRNA gene amplicons from M. glareolus revealed the presence of two closely related genetic variants, Hepatozoon sp. SK1 and Hepatozoon sp. SK2, showing 99–100 % identity with isolates from M. glareolus from other European countries. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that 18S rRNA variants SK1 and SK2 correspond to previously described genotypes UR1 and UR2 of H. erhardovae, respectively. The isolate from Apodemus flavicollis (Hepatozoon sp. SK3b) was 99 % identical with isolates from reptiles in Africa and Asia. Further studies are necessary to identify the taxonomic status of Hepatozoon spp. parasitizing rodents in Europe and the host-parasite interactions in natural foci.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by EU grant FP7-261504 EDENext and is catalogued by the EDENext Steering Committee as EDENext395 (http://www.edenext.eu). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. Financial support by grant APVV DO7RP–0014–11 and projects (MUNI/A/1437/2014), and (MUNI/A/1013/2015) is also acknowledged. The work of ZH, CS, MK, and LB was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service, and LS is a researcher of CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas). The work of CS was done under the frame of EURNEGVEC.COST action TD1303. The authors thank Renáta Szalayová and students (Katarína Miťková, Lenka Burdová, Monika Bednáriková, and Erika Vrbová) for their help with tick collections, rodent trappings, and technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Zuzana Hamšíková, Lenka Mahríková, Mirko Slovák & Mária Kazimírová

  2. Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Ingolstadt, Germany

    Cornelia Silaghi

  3. Current affiliation: National Centre for Vector Entomology, Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Cornelia Silaghi

  4. Institute of Vertebrate Biology, v.v.i, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ivo Rudolf, Kristýna Venclíková, Jan Mendel, Hana Blažejová & Zdeněk Hubálek

  5. Current affiliation: Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, v.v.i, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

    Kristýna Venclíková

  6. Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Lenka Berthová & Elena Kocianová

  7. Instituto de Patobiologia, CICVyA, INTA-Castelar, 1686 Hurlingham, Prov. de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leonhard Schnittger

  8. CONICET (National Research Council of Argentina), C1033AAJ, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leonhard Schnittger

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  1. Zuzana Hamšíková
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  2. Cornelia Silaghi
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  3. Ivo Rudolf
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  4. Kristýna Venclíková
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  5. Lenka Mahríková
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  6. Mirko Slovák
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  7. Jan Mendel
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  8. Hana Blažejová
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  9. Lenka Berthová
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  10. Elena Kocianová
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  11. Zdeněk Hubálek
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  12. Leonhard Schnittger
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  13. Mária Kazimírová
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mária Kazimírová.

Ethics declarations

The experiments presented in this paper comply with current laws of the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic. Rodent trapping and handling were approved by the Regional Environmental Office in Bratislava (licence ZPO-594/2012-SAB).

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Online Resource 1 Presence of variants of Hepatozoon spp. in rodents from two sites in southwestern Slovakia (Bratislava Forest Park, Fúgelka) (PDF 214 kb)

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Hamšíková, Z., Silaghi, C., Rudolf, I. et al. Molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of Hepatozoon spp. in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks and rodents from Slovakia and Czech Republic. Parasitol Res 115, 3897–3904 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5156-5

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