RESUMO
Bartonella is a genus of emerging zoonotic bacteria that are mainly associated with mammalian erythrocytes and endothelial cells. Bats are natural reservoirs for a variety of important pathogens that impact human and animal health. Recent reports have highlighted the role of bats and bat flies in the maintenance of Bartonella. Here, we showed that none of the 29 bat DNA blood samples obtained from five bat species in São Luís Island, state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil, were positive for Bartonella in qPCR assays targeting nuoG. On the other hand, three out of 15 DNA samples (20%) from flies in the family Streblidae were positive for Bartonella. The BLASTn results showed that the gltA and rpoB sequences shared identities ranging from 97.2% to 100%, with Bartonella sequences amplified from bats or bat flies from Costa Rica and Brazil. These findings were supported by phylogenetic analyses based on Bayesian inferences. The present study showed that Bartonella genotypes are present in bat flies, thus shedding some light on the distribution of bat fly-related Bartonella genotypes in South America.
Assuntos
Infecções por Bartonella , Bartonella , Quirópteros/microbiologia , Dípteros/microbiologia , Animais , Bartonella/genética , Infecções por Bartonella/epidemiologia , Infecções por Bartonella/veterinária , Teorema de Bayes , Brasil/epidemiologia , Variação Genética , Genótipo , FilogeniaRESUMO
Abstract Bartonella is a genus of emerging zoonotic bacteria that are mainly associated with mammalian erythrocytes and endothelial cells. Bats are natural reservoirs for a variety of important pathogens that impact human and animal health. Recent reports have highlighted the role of bats and bat flies in the maintenance of Bartonella. Here, we showed that none of the 29 bat DNA blood samples obtained from five bat species in São Luís Island, state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil, were positive for Bartonella in qPCR assays targeting nuoG. On the other hand, three out of 15 DNA samples (20%) from flies in the family Streblidae were positive for Bartonella. The BLASTn results showed that the gltA and rpoB sequences shared identities ranging from 97.2% to 100%, with Bartonella sequences amplified from bats or bat flies from Costa Rica and Brazil. These findings were supported by phylogenetic analyses based on Bayesian inferences. The present study showed that Bartonella genotypes are present in bat flies, thus shedding some light on the distribution of bat fly-related Bartonella genotypes in South America.
Resumo Bartonella é um gênero de bactérias zoonóticas emergentes associadas principalmente a eritrócitos e células endoteliais de mamíferos. Morcegos são reservatórios naturais para uma variedade de patógenos importantes que afetam a saúde humana e animal. Além disso, estudos recentes destacaram o papel dos morcegos e de moscas associadas a morcegos na manutenção de Bartonella. No presente estudo, nenhuma das 29 amostras de DNA obtidas a partir do sangue de cinco espécies de morcegos amostrados na ilha de São Luís, estado do Maranhão, Nordeste do Brasil, foi positiva para Bartonella nos ensaios de qPCR direcionados ao gene nuoG. Por outro lado, três das 15 (20%) amostras de DNA de moscas da família Streblidae foram positivas para Bartonella. Os resultados do BLASTn mostraram que as sequências dos genes gltA e rpoB compartilharam identidade, variando de 97,2% a 100%, com as sequências de Bartonella amplificadas em morcegos ou moscas amostrados na Costa Rica ou Brasil. Tais resultados corroboraram as análises filogenéticas realizadas por Inferência Bayesiana. O presente estudo mostrou a ocorrência de Bartonella em moscas de morcegos, auxiliando a esclarecer a distribuição dos genótipos de Bartonella relacionadas a moscas Streblidae na América do Sul.
Assuntos
Animais , Bartonella/genética , Infecções por Bartonella/veterinária , Infecções por Bartonella/epidemiologia , Quirópteros/microbiologia , Dípteros/microbiologia , Filogenia , Variação Genética , Brasil/epidemiologia , Teorema de Bayes , GenótipoRESUMO
Trypanosoma and Leishmania are obligate parasites that cause important diseases in human and domestic animals. Wild mammals are the natural reservoirs of these parasites, which are transmitted by hematophagous arthropods. The present study aimed to detect the natural occurrence of trypanosomatids through serological diagnosis, PCR of whole blood and blood culture (hemoculture), and phylogenetic relationships using small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA), cytochrome b, and glycosomal glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) genes. Samples from 131 wild animals, including rodents, marsupials, and bats, were sampled in six areas in the state of Maranhão, in a transition zone of semiarid climates northeast of the equatorial humid Amazon. Serological analysis for Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi was performed in opossums by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), and all animals were serologically negative. Nine positive hemocultures (6.77%) were isolated and cryopreserved and from mammals of the Didelphimorphia and Chiroptera orders and positioned in phylogenies on the basis of sequences from different genes with reference strains of Trypanosoma cruzi marinkellei and T. cruzi. From primary samples (blood and tissues) only one bat, Pteronotus parnellii, was positive to SSU rDNA and gGAPDH genes and grouped with the L. infantum chagasi branch. The studies conducted in Maranhão State provide knowledge of parasite diversity. It is important to determine the presence of trypanosomatids in wild mammals with synanthropic habits.
