Study on Blood Parasite Infection in the Japanese Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus japonicus) and Conservation Medicine for the Species

我们调查了日本松鸡(Lagopus Mutus Japan Onicus)的白细胞体感染情况，这种鸟是生活在日本高山地区的日本特殊自然遗迹之一。我们检查了在库比基、日田和赤石山脉捕获的鸟类的血液样本。这项研究使用了来自42只雄性、19只雌性和12只性别不详的鸟类的73份血液样本。73只禽类中，白细胞体感染率为78.1%。本种在形态上被鉴定为L.lovati。我们证明了洛瓦蒂乳杆菌感染广泛分布在从北部到南部高山地带的松鸡种群中。患病率无性别偏见。从春季到夏季，洛瓦蒂乳杆菌的流行率和血细胞寄生率呈上升趋势；相反，从夏季到秋季，洛瓦蒂血吸虫的寄生率呈下降趋势。虽然在一些当地的…人群中观察到了洛瓦蒂乳杆菌的感染在三个山区有更多的禽类栖息，在Johnen-dake山和Maejohnen-dake山没有发现受感染的鸟类。有必要从就地保护的角度继续调查松鸡种群动态与节肢动物媒介密度之间的关系。此外，我们还与8种日本鸟类的血吸虫进行了洛瓦氏血吸虫的分子生物学研究。我们利用聚合酶链式反应和线粒体细胞色素b基因(Cytb)的序列分析来比较这些检测到的原生动物物种的遗传背景。在22个样本的20个个体中，从8种鸟类中的6种、9只日本松鸡、4只大嘴乌鸦、2只腐肉乌鸦(C.corone)、2只扇贝猫头鹰(Otus Scopps)、1只日本罗汉嘴鸟(Eophona Posate)和2只褐耳水牛(Hypsipetes Amaurotis)分别检测到单一扩增带。基于Cyt b部分序列的系统发育分析表明，日本所有的白细胞体分离株与文献中报道的其他白细胞体物种紧密地聚在一起。在日本分离株中，系统发育树表明，来自日本松鸡的洛瓦提可能是在其他鸟类中发现的寄生虫的基础。我们的研究首次确定了日本禽类动物中白细胞体寄生虫之间的分子关系。此外，还对洛夫茨氏菌的病媒进行了检测。在松鸡的栖息地周围观察到6种以上的黑蝇(猿科)。在日本高山地区捕获的150只黑蝇中，有7只检测到白细胞体的部分cytb基因与松鸡的洛瓦氏乳头虫完全相同。这表明，黑蝇是日本摇滚松鸡所喜爱的L.的媒介之一。较少

We investigated Leucocytozoon infection in the Japanese rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus japonicus) ; this bird is one of the special natural monuments of Japan that inhabits the Japanese alpine regions. We examined blood samples from birds captured in the Kubiki, Hida, and Akaishi mountain ranges. Seventy-three blood samples from 42 males, 19 females, and 12 birds of unknown sex were used for this study. The rate of infection with Leucocytozoon was 78.1% in the 73 birds examined. This species was identified as L.lovati morphologically. We demonstrated that the L.lovati infection was distributed across wide ranges of ptarmigan populations from the northern to the southern alpine zones. There was no sex bias in the prevalence ratio. The prevalence of L.lovati and the level of parasitization of the blood cells tended to increase from spring through summer ; in contrast, a decrease was observed from summer through autumn. Although L.lovati infection was observed in a number of local populati … More ons inhabiting three mountainous regions, no infected birds were found in Mt.Johnen-dake and Mt.Maejohnen-dake. It is necessary to continue surveying the relationship between the population dynamics of the ptarmigan and the density of the arthropod vector from the perspective of in situ conservation of this endangered species. Furthermore, we conducted the molecular biological study on L.lovati from the rock ptarmigan with the hematozoa from eight species of Japanese birds for comparison. We used PCR and sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cyt b) to compare the genetic background among these detected protozoa species. In 20 individuals of 22 samples, a single amplified band was detected from 6 of 8 bird species; 9 Japanese rock ptarmigans, 4 large-billed crows (Corvus macrorhynchos), 2 carrion crows (C.corone), 2 scops owls (Otus scops), 1 Japanese grosbeak (Eophona personate), and 2 brown-eared bulbuls (Hypsipetes amaurotis), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on the partial cyt b sequences revealed that all Leucocytozoon isolates in Japan closely grouped with other Leucocytozoon species previously reported in the literature. Among the Japanese isolates, the phylogenetic tree suggested that L.lovati from the Japanese rock ptarmigan may be basal to the parasites found in other bird species. Our study is the first to identify the molecular relationships among Leucocytozoon parasites in the avifauna of Japan. The vector of L.lovzti was also examined. More than 6 species of black-fly (Simuliidae) were observed around the habitats of the ptarmigan. The partial cyt b gene of Leucocytozoon detected from 7 of 150 black-flies captured in the Japanese alpine zone was completely same with L.lovati from the ptarmigans. This suggests the black-fly is one of the vectors of L.loved in the Japanese rock ptarmigan. Less