Abstract
Urbanization results in loss of natural habitats and, consequently, reduction of richness and abundance of specialist to the detriment of generalist species. We hypothesized that a greater richness of trypanosomatid in Didelphis albiventris would be found in fragments of urban forests in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, that presented a larger richness of small mammals. We used parasitological, molecular, and serological methods to detect Trypanosoma spp. infection in D. albiventris (n = 43) from forest fragments. PCR was performed with primers specific for 18S rDNA, 24Sα rDNA, mini-chromosome satellites, and mini-exon genes. IFAT was used to detect anti–Trypanosoma cruzi IgG. All hemoculture was negative. We detected trypanosomatid DNA in blood of 35% of opossum. Two opossums were seropositive for T. cruzi. The trypanosomatid species number infecting D. albiventris was higher in the areas with greater abundance, rather than richness of small mammals. We found D. albiventris parasitized by T. cruzi in single and co-infections with Leishmania spp., recently described molecular operational taxonomic unit (MOTU) named DID, and Trypanosoma lainsoni. We concluded that (i) trypanosome richness may be determined by small mammal abundance, (ii) D. albiventris confirmed to be bio-accumulators of trypanosomatids, and (iii) T. lainsoni demonstrated a higher host range than described up to the present.
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The authors would like to thank Dra Vera Bongertz who provided insightful comments and English editing.
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First author thanks Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the master degree grant (88887.149231/2017-00). HMH is in receipt of a fellowship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (308768/2017-5). FMS is in receipt of a fellowship from CAPES (88887.369261/2019-00). This research was financially supported by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul (process number FUNDECT 03/2016 PPSUS-MS 59/300.069/2017) and CAPES (Finance Code 001).
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Conceptualization: WAGN, FMS, HMH, and AMJ; data curation: WAGN, FMS, HMH, and AMJ; formal analysis: WAGN, FMS, HMH, and AMJ; funding acquisition: HMH; investigation: WAGN, FMS, HMH, GCM, WTGB, LRG, MSR, JVMC, ACR, WOA, GEOP, CEO, SCCX, and AMJ; methodology: WAGN, FMS, HMH, GCM, WTGB, LRG, MSR, JVMC, ACR, WOA, GEOP, CEO, SCCX, and AMJ; project administration: AMJ; supervision: FMS, HMH, and AMJ; validation: FMS, HMH, and AMJ; visualization: FMS, HMH, and AMJ; writing—original draft: WAGN, HMH, FMS, GCM, and AMJ; writing—review and editing: WAGN, HMH, FMS, and AMJ.
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All field and laboratory procedures were performed in accordance with licenses granted by the Biodiversity Information and Authorization System of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (SISBIO) (56912-2) and by the Mato Grosso do Sul Environmental Institute (IMASUL) (license number 05/2017, process No.61/405959/2016). This study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Use of the Dom Bosco Catholic University, Campo Grande, MS (license number 001/2017).
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Nantes, W.A.G., Santos, F.M., de Macedo, G.C. et al. Trypanosomatid species in Didelphis albiventris from urban forest fragments. Parasitol Res 120, 223–231 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06921-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06921-y