Journal of Parasitology最新文献

{"title":"SARCOCYSTIS INFECTIONS IN TONGUES OF COUGARS (PUMA CONCOLOR COUGUAR) IN COLORADO.","authors":"J P Dubey, Aditya Gupta, Reichard Mason, Marc Criffield, Kenneth A Logan, B M Rosenthal","doi":"10.1645/25-57","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-57","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Sarcocystis species are intracellular protozoan parasites that infect a wide range of intermediate and definitive hosts, including felids. This study reports Sarcocystis species in the tongues of cougars (Puma concolor couguar) in Colorado for the first time. By light microscope, sarcocysts were found in 4 of 30 cougars; they appeared to represent more than 2 morphologic types by light microscopy. One morphologic type had serrations on the sarcocyst wall and resembled Sarcocystis felis reported from domestic and wild felids. In the second type, serrations were not visible on the sarcocyst wall. Molecular characterization using the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region revealed the presence of a Sarcocystis felis-like organism. This is the first characterization of ITS1 from a wild felid in the United States.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"823-831"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145819791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"COMPLETE MITOCHONDRIAL SEQUENCES FROM FISH-INFECTING COCCIDIA (GOUSSIA SPECIES) REVEAL HIGHLY DIVERGENT GENOME ORGANIZATIONS.","authors":"Natasha M Slawnych, Larsen C Iorgovits, Alex N Léveillé, Perryn S Kruth, Sara M Terier, Winter Kraemer, John R Barta","doi":"10.1645/25-40","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-40","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To date, no complete genomes from any species of fish-infecting coccidia have been sequenced, including any from one of the most speciose genera of fish-infecting coccidia, Goussia. To address this data gap, we generated and annotated complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes of 2 local fish-infecting Goussia species: Goussia degiustii and Goussia leucisci. Parasite DNA was extracted from infected spleen and kidney samples from common shiner (Luxilus cornutus) specimens. PCR and Sanger sequencing were conducted to generate whole nuclear (nu) 18S rDNA sequences and complete mt genomes from each species. Despite being members of the same genus, the mt genomes of G. degiustii and G. leucisci are highly divergent with respect to both content and organization. The mt genome of G. degiustii has the same organization as the mt genomes of parasites in the family Eimeriidae (sensu stricto). A phylogenetic analysis of nu 18S rDNA sequences combined with mt cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences (where available) from 56 species of related coccidia placed G. degiustii in a clade with 5 fish-infecting enteric species exhibiting nodular development and G. leucisci in a different clade with 5 fish-infecting species exhibiting epicellular development. Additional molecular data, but especially mt coding sequences and whole-genome data, need to be obtained from other fish-infecting Goussia species to resolve the apparent paraphyly of this genus and uncover the genome organizations of these parasites.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"774-786"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145604581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"REVIEW: THE ORIGIN OF DIGENETIC TREMATODES: DID THE STORY BEGIN WITH THE BLOOD FLUKES?","authors":"Eric S Loker","doi":"10.1645/25-27","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-27","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Building on other scholars' relatively recent insights of the relationships of polyopisthocotyleans and trematodes, here for the first time it is hypothesized that this relationship favors the view that blood flukes are the primordial digeneans, and blood feeding per se was a factor facilitating the transition to endoparasitism. In contrast to other hypotheses of digenean origins that are \"mollusc first\" and then suggest acquisition of the vertebrate host secondarily, this is a \"vertebrate first\" hypothesis that features later capture of molluscan or annelid hosts. Capture of molluscan or annelid hosts may have been facilitated by their possession of hemoglobin. This hypothesis is also distinctive in suggesting that the 2-host blood fluke life cycle is not secondarily truncated but in fact represents the basal condition and, furthermore, provides a platform from which 3-host life cycles could emerge. The hypothesis is supported by long-standing observations that early diverging blood flukes tend to appear in early diverging vertebrate host lineages, blood fluke intermediate hosts and intramolluscan larval stages are exceptionally diverse, and blood flukes exhibit cercariae with tails ranging from simple buds to complex forked swimming structures. These ideas have nonetheless heretofore never been gathered into an explicit statement hypothesizing the early divergence of blood flukes, manifested today in definitive hosts ranging from early diverging fish lineages to birds and mammals, a host breadth unparalleled among other digenean groups. This hypothesis supports the sister group relationships of aspidogastreans and digeneans, but unlike others it does not posit a major role for aspidogastrean-like organisms giving rise to primordial digeneans. It also points out problems in concluding that some digenean groups such as brachylaimids or transversotrematids are basal digeneans. This review also considers how the complex intramolluscan asexual reproduction program of digeneans may have arisen, based on new insights from functional genomics.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"787-814"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12658885/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145604645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A NOVEL AMPHIBIAN MYXOSPOREAN, CYSTODISCUS CHONGQINGENSIS N. SP., INFECTING THE ASIATIC TOAD (BUFO GARGARIZANS) FROM CHINA.","authors":"Wei Chen, Christopher M Whipps, Xinyu Qing, Chengzhong Yang, Yuanjun Zhao","doi":"10.1645/24-140","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In a parasitological survey of Asiatic toads (Bufo gargarizans) from Chongqing, China, a novel myxosporean was encountered. The species, Cystodiscus chongqingensis n. sp., was found in the gallbladder of toads. The elliptoid myxospores were morphologically consistent with a Cystodiscus species but were distinct from other congeners by myxospore dimensions and DNA sequence comparisons. Myxospores were 14.2 ± 0.4 μm long (13.6-14.9 μm) and 11.1 ± 0.5 μm wide (10.4-12.0 μm), and the polar capsules were 4.6 ± 0.3) μm long (4.0-5.1 μm) and 3.4 ± 0.3 μm wide (2.6-3.8 μm). Phylogenetically, this new species was sister to all previously described and sequenced Cystodiscus species. Also, the predicted secondary structures of helices 18 and 24 in its small subunit ribosomal RNA were distinct from those of other Cystodiscus species, highlighting its unique phylogenetic position within Cystodiscus. Divergence time estimates suggest that C. chongqingensis n. sp. emerged in the Paleogene Period, significantly earlier than other Cystodiscus species. The discovery of this novel species that represents a unique Cystodiscus lineage warrants further investigations to evaluate whether other Asian Cystodiscus species fall within the same lineage.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"765-773"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145604586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SEASONAL SUCCESSION OF CESTODE METACOMMUNITIES IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS OF TWO NORTH AMERICAN SHREWS (SOREX SPP.).","authors":"Timothy L Odom, Andrew W Park, Joseph A Cook, Jonathan L Dunnum, Schuyler W Liphardt, Katrina M Derieg, Danielle J Parsons, Bryan S McLean, Stephen E Greiman","doi":"10.1645/24-45","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-45","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Seasonal patterns in parasite diversity and prevalence are determined by a suite of factors ranging from environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, precipitation) to host behavior and traits. The forces shaping these patterns are increasingly unstable due to anthropogenic climate change, emphasizing the importance of leveraging natural history collections to understand how historical environmental conditions contributed to the spatiotemporal distributions of parasites and parasitic diseases. We implemented frameworks from metacommunity analyses to test for seasonal trends in parasite community structure attributable to host and abiotic environment in 2 North American shrew species, Sorex cinereus and Sorex monticola. Shrews were collected using snap traps and pitfall traps periodically from 2009 to 2018 at 2 sites in Cowles, New Mexico. Whole gastrointestinal tracts from shrews were screened and tapeworm taxa were identified to genus using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the 28S rRNA gene. Elements of metacommunity structure (EMS) revealed coherent, dynamic cestode metacommunities indicative of idiosyncratic responses of parasite taxa to seasonal trends in climate variables. We used boosted regression trees to identify latent variables predictive of cestode metacommunity structure and identified \"day of the year\" as having the greatest relative influence on parasite community structure, followed by precipitation and host body size. This work demonstrates for the first time the utility of the EMS framework for detecting fine-scale seasonal dynamics in parasitic helminth communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"755-764"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145596613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"NEW FACES IN AN OLD GENUS: MUSEUM COLLECTIONS AND NEW MATERIALS REVEAL NEW DIVERSITY OF ALARIA AND AN UPDATED KEY TO SPECIES.","authors":"Maggie A Young, Sarah A Orlofske, Robert C Jadin, Vasyl V Tkach, Stephen E Greiman, Sean A Locke, Thayane F Fernandes, Sara V Brant, Kimberly M Bates, Michelle Michalski, Tyler J Achatz","doi":"10.1645/24-143","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-143","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Alaria is a small genus of diplostomids that infect the intestines of mammalian definitive hosts. The life cycles of Alaria spp. require amphibian second intermediate hosts. However, snakes and small mammals often serve as paratenic hosts, and humans may be accidental dead-end paratenic hosts. Recently, the genus was expanded to include members of the former genus Pharyngostomoides, which primarily parasitizes common raccoon Procyon lotor. In the present study, we collected representatives of several Alaria spp. from amphibians, reptiles, and mammals in Georgia, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Newly collected and previously available materials were used for morphological and molecular study. Additional specimens, including type series, were morphologically examined from various museums, teaching, and personal collections in North and South America. These archival specimens were critical in helping evaluate species diversity and assess potential evolutionary patterns of the genus. We provide descriptions of 3 new Alaria spp., 2 of them are based on new and museum specimens from common raccoons in Georgia and Minnesota, and the third new species is described based on museum specimens only from a mountain lion Puma concolor in Paraguay. The morphology of a species-level genetic lineage likely representing a new species is described based on specimens from a fisher Pekania pennanti in Wisconsin. Descriptions of Alaria procyonis (new material), Alaria marcianae (previously sequenced museum specimens), and Alaria nasuae (museum material; first description from wild-collected host) are provided. A redescription of Alaria adenocephala is provided based on type materials. Fragments of 3 genetic loci (28S + ITS region rDNA and COI mtDNA) were sequenced for the new materials (4 species; 1 species-level lineage). The name Alaria nattereri Lutz, 1933 is considered a nomen nudum. New sequences (ITS region and COI) of several previously studied Alaria isolates (5 species; 2 species-level lineages) were generated, along with the mitochondrial genome of Alaria ovalis, one of the species from raccoons. These DNA sequences were used to infer the phylogenetic relationships among Alaria spp. In total, our study increases the number of nominal Alaria spp. known from 10 to 14, of which 12 are limited to the Americas. A new key to Alaria spp. based on adult morphology is provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"717-746"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145596696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS ARE NEEDED TO RESOLVE HOST SAMPLING GAPS IN PARASITOLOGY: INSIGHTS FROM AVIAN HAEMOSPORIDIANS.","authors":"Spencer C Galen","doi":"10.1645/24-57","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-57","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The field of parasitology, and thus biodiversity research more broadly, is faced with the unfortunate reality that our understanding of parasite biodiversity can be only as good as our ability to sample parasite host species. Although the sampling of many host species is trivial, there typically remains a subset of species across any host group of interest that is difficult to sample due to rarity, habitat, body size, or some other trait. The result is a blind spot in our understanding of parasite biodiversity that is centered around parasite species that infect hosts that are rarely sampled by humans. However, for many groups of hosts, the daunting task of obtaining host samples has already been done, and these samples exist in the form of natural history collections at institutions across the world. With avian malaria parasites and other haemosporidians as an example, I demonstrate that significant host sampling gaps exist in the United States and Canada. Bird species that have not been sampled for molecular haemosporidian research typically are associated with aquatic habitats, significantly greater masses, and more restricted geographic distributions than are bird species that have already been sampled. These unsampled host species are likely to be infected with a high richness of previously undiscovered avian haemosporidian genetic lineages. However, natural history collections in the United States can be used to nearly completely address these sampling gaps with tissue samples currently housed in these institutions. The result of this analysis indicates that the future of parasite biodiversity research is dependent on the use and support of natural history collections and other biorepositories.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"747-754"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145596631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"HOST DIET QUALITY ALTERS PRIORITY EFFECTS OF COINFECTING PARASITES.","authors":"Erin Sedlacek, Scott Binger, Charlotte F Narr","doi":"10.1645/24-144","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-144","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Separate bodies of literature suggest that the ecology and evolution of host-parasite systems are influenced by the quality of a host's diet and priority effects (i.e., when the order of exposure to multiple parasites influences the outcome of the infection). Although resource competition is invoked as a mechanism responsible for priority effects, the effect of host diet quality on priority effects is unexplored. We tested the hypothesis that low-quality diets reduce priority effects between the bacterial parasite Pasteuria ramosa and the microsporidian Hamiltosporidium tvaerminnensis in their daphnid host. We found that P. ramosa benefits from prior residency when hosts are fed high phosphorus (i.e., high-quality) but not low phosphorus diets. We were unable to detect priority effects for H. tvaerminnensis. These results are consistent with evidence from single-infection experiments on the same parasites, suggesting that low phosphorus diets could reduce resource competition between these parasites. Our study shows how the host's environment can influence infection outcomes by moderating parasite interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"709-716"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145564265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF NEOGOGATEA (DIPLOSTOMOIDEA; CYATHOCOTYLIDAE).","authors":"Tyler J Achatz, Zoe S Von Holten, Dana M Calhoun, Pieter T J Johnson, Jonathon Pritchard, Matthew Keel, Vasyl V Tkach","doi":"10.1645/24-152","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-152","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Neogogatea Chandler and Rausch, 1947, is a small genus of cyathocotylid digeneans parasitic in the intestines of birds of prey. The genus contains only 3 species: 2 from the Nearctic and 1 from the Palearctic. No sequence data from mature, properly identified representatives of Neogogatea were available until now. In the present study, we collected mature adult Neogogatea kentuckiensis (Cable, 1935) Hoffman and Dunbar, 1963, from osprey in Georgia, Florida, and Delaware, and sequenced fragments of the nuclear large ribosomal subunit (28S) gene and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) mtDNA gene. We used 28S sequence data for phylogenetic inference and COI data for comparisons at the species level. In the phylogenetic tree, N. kentuckiensis was situated in a clade with representatives of the genera Mesostephanus Lutz, 1935, Braunina Wolf, 1903, and an unidentified cyathocotylid cercaria from Australia. The observed variability in the COI gene between our isolates suggests the need for collecting fresh, well-fixed, and mature specimens from a broader geographic range to test for the presence of more than 1 Neogogatea species in New World osprey.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"703-708"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145557182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lillian F. Mayberry 19 May 1943-17 September 2025.","authors":"Donald W Duszynski","doi":"10.1645/25-82","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/25-82","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 6","pages":"700-702"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145488898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}