Monoxenous (insect-restricted) trypanosomatids are highly diverse and abundant in nature. While many papers focus on the taxonomy and distribution of these parasites, studies on their biology are still scarce. In particular, this concerns trypanosomatids inhabiting the ubiquitous mosquitoes. To shed light on the circulation of monoxenous trypanosomatids with the participation of mosquitoes, we performed a multifaceted study combining the examination of naturally- and experimentally-infected insects using light and electron microscopy and molecular identification of parasites. Our examination of overwintering mosquitoes (genera and ) revealed that their guts contained living trypanosomatids, which can be spread during the next season. Experimental infections with spp. demonstrated that imagines represent permissive hosts, while larvae are resistant to these parasites. We argue that for the parasites with wide specificity, mosquitoes act as facultative hosts. Other trypanosomatids may have specific adaptations for vertical transmission in these insects at the expense of their potential to infect a wider range of hosts and, consequently, abundance in nature.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11111326 | DOI Listing |
Int J Parasitol
January 2025
Grupo de Enfermedades Infecciosas Facultad de Ciencias Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogotá Colombia. Electronic address:
Bats play crucial roles in various ecosystems including caves. Although the presence of trypanosomatid species in bats has been documented in Colombia, their diversity in cave-dwelling bats remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize the frequency and diversity of protists from the family Trypanosomatidae circulating in bats from the Macaregua cave ecosystem in Santander, Colombia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirus Evol
May 2024
Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava 710 00, Czechia.
Trypanosomatids (Euglenozoa) are a diverse group of unicellular flagellates predominately infecting insects (monoxenous species) or circulating between insects and vertebrates or plants (dixenous species). Monoxenous trypanosomatids harbor a wide range of RNA viruses belonging to the families , , and a putative group of tombus-like viruses. Here, we focus on the subfamily Blastocrithidiinae, a previously unexplored divergent group of monoxenous trypanosomatids comprising two related genera: and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZootaxa
April 2023
Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; CEPAVE (CONICET-UNLP); Blvd. 120 s/n e/ 60 y 64; CP 1900 La Plata; Argentina..
The degree of host specificity of fleas varies from highly specific (monoxenous) to opportunistic (polyxenous). Specific parasite-host associations can be observed among some flea families and tribes and mammalian orders, such as fleas of the tribe Tritopsyllini (Ctenophthalmidae, Doratopsyllinae) and opossums (Didelphimorphia). Specimens of the family Didelphidae are common hosts of fleas of the genus Adoratopsylla (Ewing, 1925).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPathogens
November 2022
Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.
Monoxenous (insect-restricted) trypanosomatids are highly diverse and abundant in nature. While many papers focus on the taxonomy and distribution of these parasites, studies on their biology are still scarce. In particular, this concerns trypanosomatids inhabiting the ubiquitous mosquitoes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!