Close relationship of Plasmodium sequences detected from South American pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) to Plasmodium spp. in North American white-tailed deer

Masahito Asada; Mika Takeda; Walfrido Moraes Tomas; Aiesca Pellegrin; Cairo Henrique Sousa de Oliveira; José Diomedes Barbosa; Júlia Angélica Gonçalves da Silveira; Érika M Braga; Osamu Kaneko

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.01.001

Close relationship of Plasmodium sequences detected from South American pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) to Plasmodium spp. in North American white-tailed deer

Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2018 Jan 6;7(1):44-47. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.01.001. eCollection 2018 Apr.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Protozoology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Sakamoto 1-12-4, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan.
² Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Sakamoto 1-12-4, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan.
³ Animal Health and Wildlife Laboratories, Embrapa Pantanal, Rua 21 de Setembro 1880, 79320-900, Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
⁴ Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Campus Samambaia, Campus Universitário, 74690900, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
⁵ Universidade Federal do Pará, Centro Agropecuário, Departamento de Ciência Animal, Av. Maximino Porpino da Silva, 1000 Centro, 68740080, Castanhal, PA, Brazil.
⁶ Laboratório de Protozoologia Veterinária, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil.
⁷ Laboratório de Malária, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil.

Abstract

We report, for the first time, the presence of ungulate malaria parasites in South America. We conducted PCR-based surveys of blood samples of multiple deer species and water buffalo from Brazil and detected Plasmodium sequences from pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) samples. Phylogenic analysis revealed that the obtained sequences are closely related to the Plasmodium odocoilei clade 2 sequence from North American white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Nucleotide differences suggest that malaria parasites in South American pampas deer and North American P. odocoilei clade 2 branched more recently than the Great American Interchange.

Keywords: Brazil; Malaria; Pampas deer; Plasmodium odocoilei; South America.