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Integrative taxonomic approach of trypanosomes in the blood of rodents and soricids in Asian countries, with the description of three new species

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Abstract

Trypanosoma lewisi (Kinetoplastea: Trypanosomatida: Trypanosomatidae) with a cosmopolitan distribution is the type species of the subgenus Herpetosoma, which includes ca. 50 nominal species isolated mainly from rodents. Since members of Herpetosoma in different host species have an almost identical morphology of bloodstream forms, these trypanosomes are referred to as ‘T. lewisi-like’, and the molecular genetic characterization of each species is necessary to verify their taxonomy. In the present study, we collected blood samples from 89 murid rodents of 15 species and 11 soricids of four species in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and mainland China for the detection of hemoprotozoan infection. T. lewisi and T. lewisi-like trypanosomes were found in the blood smears of 10 murid animals, which included Bandicota indica (two rats), Rattus argentiventer (one rat), and Rattus tiomanicus (two rats) in Indonesia; Rattus rattus (one rat) in the Philippines; and Niviventer confucianus (four rats) in mainland China. Furthermore, large- or medium-sized non-T. lewisi-like trypanosomes were detected in two soricids, Crocidura dracula in Vietnam and Anourosorex yamashinai in Taiwan, respectively. Molecular genetic characterization of the small subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) and glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) gene indicated that the trypanosomes from all the murid hosts had identical SSU rDNA or gGAPDH gene nucleotide sequences except for those in N. confucianus in mainland China. These N. confucianus-infecting trypanosomes also showed several unique morphological features such as smaller bodies, anteriorly positioned nuclei, and larger rod-shaped kinetoplasts when compared with T. lewisi trypomastigotes. Trypanosoma (Herpetosoma) niviventerae n. sp. is erected for this new species. Similarly, based on morphological and molecular genetic characterization, Trypanosoma sapaensis n. sp. and Trypanosoma anourosoricis n. sp. are proposed for the trypanosomes in C. dracula in Vietnam and A. yamashinai in Taiwan, respectively. More effort directed toward the morphological and molecular genetic characterization of the trypanosomes of rodents and soricids is required to fully understand the real biodiversity of their hemoflagellates.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the mammalogists of Hasanuddin University, Indonesia, and Central Luzon State University, Philippines, for their species identification of the collected murids and soricids.

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Author notes

  1. Eliakunda Mafie and Atsuko Saito-Ito contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Parasitology, United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi, 753-8515, Japan

    Eliakunda Mafie & Hiroshi Sato

  2. Section of Parasitology, Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan

    Atsuko Saito-Ito & Masatoshi Kasai

  3. Section of Microbiology, School of Pharmacy, Hyogo University of Health Sciences, 1-3-6 Minatojima, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-8530, Japan

    Atsuko Saito-Ito

  4. Department of Medical Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Immunology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

    Mochammad Hatta

  5. Department of Parasitology, College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila, 625 Pedro Gil Street, 1000, Manila, Philippines

    Pilarita T. Rivera

  6. College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Hang Ma

  7. Department of Parasitology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100, Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Eng-Rin Chen

  8. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Airlangga University, Campus C, Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia

    Hiroshi Sato

  9. Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan

    Nobuhiro Takada

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  1. Eliakunda Mafie
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  2. Atsuko Saito-Ito
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  6. Xiao-Hang Ma
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  7. Eng-Rin Chen
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  8. Hiroshi Sato
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  9. Nobuhiro Takada
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroshi Sato.

Ethics declarations

The ethics of animal trapping and sample collection adhered to in this study followed the guidelines outlined by each survey participant’s university, but at that time, no individual permission numbers of sample collection were provided to us from these organizations.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Section Editor: Marta Teixeira

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Mafie, E., Saito-Ito, A., Kasai, M. et al. Integrative taxonomic approach of trypanosomes in the blood of rodents and soricids in Asian countries, with the description of three new species. Parasitol Res 118, 97–109 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6120-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6120-3

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