Phylogenetic classification of haemosporidian parasites of Australian flying foxes (Pteropus spp.)

五种感染人类的疟原虫属物种是人类疟疾的病原体，属于血孢子虫寄生虫的一个大的单系群，包括200种疟原虫和近300种密切相关的类群。对非人类疟疾寄生虫的研究对于更好地了解这一重要寄生虫群体的进化历史至关重要。在哺乳动物中，蝙蝠具有最多样化的血孢子虫，一些蝙蝠血孢子虫寄生虫的初步研究结果和分子特征已经影响了血孢子虫的整体发育。蝙蝠疟原虫物种与啮齿动物疟原虫物种的意外密切关系是常见的实验室疟疾模型系统之一。尽管最近的进展，大多数类群的分子信息仍然missing.We提出的血孢子虫寄生虫在澳大利亚狐蝠物种的系统发育特征，包括重新发现和分子特征描述的形态种和新的寄生虫物种的检测。我们的目标是填补一个显着的差距，疟疾寄生虫的整体寄生虫产生的第一个分子数据的两个神秘的haemosporidian物种，这是澳大利亚飞狐特有的。理想情况下，我们还将确定两个最近描述的血孢子虫属。我们将进一步调查，是否血孢子虫寄生虫在澳大利亚蝙蝠功能以前未知的方面在其生命周期。一个既定的工作程序将进行，包括显微镜和分子方法相结合，以检测血孢子虫寄生虫在不同的样本集的四个澳大利亚狐蝠物种（狐蝠属）。通过形态学特征的分析，结合多基因系统发育分析，了解疟原虫的进化历史和生物学特性，是了解疟原虫多样性的重要基础。蝙蝠体内有几种与人类疟原虫物种密切相关的寄生虫，因此研究这些寄生虫将有助于回答一些重要的问题，例如，在血孢子虫寄生虫的进化过程中，哺乳动物的入侵是否发生不止一次，或者为什么人类感染的恶性疟原虫比其他疟原虫物种更具毒性。

The five human-infecting Plasmodium species, the causative agents of human malaria, belong to a large monophyletic group of haemosporidian parasites that comprise 200 species of Plasmodium and almost 300 of closely related taxa. The study of non-human malaria parasites is essential for better understanding the evolutionary history of this important parasite group. Among mammals bats feature the most diverse set of haemosporidians and initial findings and molecular characterization of some bat haemosporidian parasites already impacted the overall phylogeny of Haemosporida. The unexpected close relationship of bat Plasmodium species with rodent Plasmodium species that are common laboratory malaria model systems is one of these examples. Despite recent advances, molecular information for the majority of taxa is still missing.We propose the phylogenetic characterization of haemosporidian parasites in Australian flying fox species including the rediscovery and molecular characterization of described morphospecies and the detection of new parasite species. We aim to fill a significant gap in the overall phylogeny of malaria parasites by generating the first molecular data for two enigmatic haemosporidian species, which are endemic in Australian flying foxes. Ideally, we will also identify the two recently described haemosporidian genera. We will further investigate, whether haemosporidian parasites in Australian bats feature previously unknown aspects in their life cycles.An established working procedure will be performed, comprising a combination of microscopic and molecular methods to detect haemosporidian parasites in a diverse sample set of four Australian flying fox species (Pteropus spp.). Morphological characteristics in comparison with previous records will be investigated and a multi-gene phylogenetic approach will be applied.A true understanding of the evolutionary history and biology of malaria parasites can only be obtained from considerations of the full diversity of this parasite group. Bats harbor several parasites that are closely related to human Plasmodium species and thus studying these parasites will contribute to answer important questions, e.g. whether the invasion of mammals occurred more than once in the evolution of haemosporidian parasites or why the human-infecting species Plasmodium falciparum is more virulent than other Plasmodium species.