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

人类感染的五种疟原虫是人类疟疾的病原体，它们属于一个大的单系血孢子虫寄生虫群，其中包括200种疟原虫和近300种密切相关的分类群。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类群的进化史至关重要。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发现和分子特征已经影响了整个血孢子虫的系统发育。蝙蝠疟原虫物种与啮齿类疟原虫物种的意外密切关系是这些例子之一，它们是常见的实验室疟疾模型系统。尽管最近取得了进展，但大多数分类群的分子信息仍然缺失。我们提出了澳大利亚狐种血孢子虫寄生虫的系统发育特征，包括已描述的形态种的重新发现和分子鉴定以及新寄生虫种的检测。我们的目标是通过生成两个神秘的血孢子虫物种的第一个分子数据来填补疟疾寄生虫整体系统发育的重大空白，这两个物种在澳大利亚狐蝠中是地方性的。理想情况下，我们还将确定最近描述的两种血孢子虫属。我们将进一步研究澳大利亚蝙蝠中的血孢子虫寄生虫在其生命周期中是否具有以前未知的方面。将执行既定的工作程序，包括显微和分子方法的结合，以检测四种澳大利亚狐蝠（翼狐属）的不同样本组中的血孢子虫寄生虫。将研究与以往记录比较的形态特征，并采用多基因系统发育方法。要真正了解疟疾寄生虫的进化史和生物学，只有考虑到这一寄生虫群的全部多样性。蝙蝠携带几种与人类疟原虫密切相关的寄生虫，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不止一次发生，或者为什么感染人类的恶性疟原虫比其他疟原虫更具毒性。

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.