Bats, Trypanosomes, and Triatomines in Ecuador: New Insights into the Diversity, Transmission, and Origins of Trypanosoma cruzi and Chagas Disease

Authors

C. Miguel Pinto, CUNY Graduate Center
Sofía Ocaña-Mayorga, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
Elicio E. Tapia, Fundación Otonga, Quito, Ecuador
Simón E. Lobos, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
Alejandra P. Zurita, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
Fernanda Aguirre-Villacís, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
Amber MacDonald, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
Anita G. Villacís, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
Luciana Lima, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Marta M. G. Teixeira, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Mario J. Grijalva, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
Susan L. Perkins, Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

October 2015

Abstract

The generalist parasite Trypanosoma cruzi has two phylogenetic lineages associated almost exclusively with bats—Trypanosoma cruzi Tcbat and the subspecies T. c. marinkellei. We present new information on the genetic variation, geographic distribution, host associations, and potential vectors of these lineages. We conducted field surveys of bats and triatomines in southern Ecuador, a country endemic for Chagas disease, and screened for trypanosomes by microscopy and PCR. We identified parasites at species and genotype levels through phylogenetic approaches based on 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) and cytochrome b (cytb) genes and conducted a comparison of nucleotide diversity of the cytb gene. We document for the first time T. cruzi Tcbat and T. c. marinkellei in Ecuador, expanding their distribution in South America to the western side of the Andes. In addition, we found the triatomines Cavernicola pilosa and Triatoma dispar sharing shelters with bats. The comparisons of nucleotide diversity revealed a higher diversity for T. c. marinkellei than any of the T. c. cruzi genotypes associated with Chagas disease. Findings from this study increased both the number of host species and known geographical ranges of both parasites and suggest potential vectors for these two trypanosomes associated with bats in rural areas of southern Ecuador. The higher nucleotide diversity of T. c. marinkellei supports a long evolutionary relationship between T. cruzi and bats, implying that bats are the original hosts of this important parasite.

Comments

This work was originally published in PLoS ONE, available at doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139999.