Colonization of the American Continent by African populations of cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) and its parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus): genetics revealing the bioinvasion process

• Grant number: 10/50406-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2010
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Nassif Del Lama
• Grantee: Silvia Nassif Del Lama
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Cattle Egret (Bulbucus ibis), native to tropical Africa, invaded the American continent in the end of the 19th Century. The most commonly accepted hypothesis assumes that birds flew over the Atlantic ocean, established initially in the Northeast of South America, and from there they dispersed all over the continent, approximately 50-60 years ago. Nowadays, the species is one of the most abundant in the American continent and, in spite of its expansion have been well documented demographically; the genetics of its introduction has remained unexplored. The main goals of this study are: to use molecular genetic tools to clarify the historic of the invasion process; to identify the African source region from where founder egrets came to colonize the American continent, and to estimate the number of invasion events that took place as well as the actual date in which the process started. Samples from fifteen populations of the Cattle Egret spanning a range from near the supposed introduction region (extreme North of Brazil, in Amapá state) to the extreme South of Brazil will be collected. Also, eight samples from countries in the African Atlantic coast (Senegal, Guine-Bissau, Ghana and Angola), situated near the region probable source of invasive populations will be collected. MtDNA (control region and cyt-b) and microsatellites (eight polymorphic loci to be prospected in the species) will be used to analyze native and invasive populations. Comparison between levels of genetic diversity and its distribution in the native and colonized ranges will aid to test the hypothesis about the number of invasion entrances. Lower levels of genetic differentiation and higher indexes of population assignment are expected between the most ancient Brazilian populations, in the North-Northeast of the country, and the African samples. The phylogeographic analysis with base in mtDNA haplotypes will help identifying the source population in Africa and the extent of the invasive events. In addition, we will analyze mtDNA sequences of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus present in B. ibis samples from Brazilian populations and from some of the African populations with the aim of identifying their lineages and to check the diagnostic of introduction obtained through analysis of host's (B. ibis) DNA. (AU)

Scientific publications

(20)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MINO, CAROLINA ISABEL; DE SOUZA, ELAINE DANTAS; MORALEZ-SILVA, EMMANUEL; VALDES, TALITA ALVARENGA; CORTICO CORREA RODRIGUES, VERA LUCIA; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. Use of noninvasive `bug-eggs' to enable comparative inferences on genetic mating system with and without parental information: A study in a cattle egret colony. PLoS One, v. 12, n. 8, AUG 30 2017. (16/01673-7, 10/50406-5)

MORAES DE CASTRO E SOUZA, ANDIARA SILOS; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF; MINO, CAROLINA ISABEL. Conspecific Brood Parasitism in the White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi (Aves: Pelecaniformes) Revealed by Microsatellites' Based Kinship-Reconstruction. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-ECOLOGICAL GENETICS AND PHYSIOLOGY, v. 319A, n. 5, p. 277-284, JUN 2013. (10/50406-5)

RAMIREZ, J. L.; MIYAKI, C. Y.; DEL LAMA, S. N.. Molecular phylogeny of Threskiornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Genetics and Molecular Research, v. 12, n. 3, p. 2740-2750, 2013. (10/52315-7, 10/50406-5)

CONGRAINS, CARLOS; CARVALHO, ANTONIO F.; MIRANDA, ELDER A.; CUMMING, GRAEME S.; HENRY, DOMINIC A. W.; MANU, SHIIWUA A.; ABALAKA, JACINTA; ROCHA, CRISTIANO D.; DIOP, MOUSSA S.; SA, JOAOZINHO; et al. Genetic and paleomodelling evidence of the population expansion of the cattle egret Bubulcus ibis in Africa during the climatic oscillations of the Late Pleistocene. JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, v. 47, n. 6, p. 846-857, DEC 2016. (10/50406-5)

RAMIREZ, JORGE L.; MIYAKI, CRISTINA Y.; FREDERICK, PETER C.; DEL LAMA, SILVIA N.. Species Delimitation in the Genus Eudocimus (Threskiornithidae: Pelecaniformes): First Genetic Approach. WATERBIRDS, v. 37, n. 4, p. 419-425, DEC 2014. (10/50406-5)

MORAES DE CASTRO E SOUZA, ANDIARA SILOS; MINO, CAROLINA ISABEL; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. Polymorphic heterologous microsatellite loci for population genetics studies of the white-faced ibis Plegadis chihi (Vieillot, 1817) (Pelecaniformes, Threskiornithidae). GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, v. 35, n. 1, p. 74-80, 2012. (10/50406-5)

VILLAR, CYNTHIA MARTINS; BRYAN, JR., ALBERT LAWRENCE; LANCE, STACEY LYN; BRAGA, ERIKA MARTINS; CONGRAINS, CARLOS; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. BLOOD PARASITES IN NESTLINGS OF WOOD STORK POPULATIONS FROM THREE REGIONS OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. Journal of Parasitology, v. 99, n. 3, p. 522-527, JUN 2013. (10/52315-7, 10/50406-5)

MINO, CAROLINA ISABEL; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. Genetic Differentiation Among Populations of the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja; Aves: Pelecaniformes) in Three Brazilian Wetlands. BIOCHEMICAL GENETICS, v. 52, n. 7-8, p. 321-337, AUG 2014. (10/52315-7, 10/50406-5)

MINO, CAROLINA ISABEL; DE SOUZA, ELAINE DANTAS; MORALEZ-SILVA, EMMANUEL; VALDES, TALITA ALVARENGA; CORTICO CORREA RODRIGUES, VERA LUCIA; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. Use of noninvasive 'bug-eggs' to enable comparative inferences on genetic mating system with and without parental information: A study in a cattle egret colony. PLoS One, v. 12, n. 8, p. 18-pg., 2017-08-30. (10/50406-5, 16/01673-7)

VILLAR COUTO, CYNTHIA M.; CUMMING, GRAEME S.; LACORTE, GUSTAVO A.; CONGRAINS, CARLOS; IZBICKI, RAFAEL; BRAGA, ERIKA MARTINS; ROCHA, CRISTIANO D.; MORALEZ-SILVA, EMMANUEL; HENRY, DOMINIC A. W.; MANU, SHIIWUA A.; et al. Avian haemosporidians in the cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) from central-western and southern Africa: High diversity and prevalence. PLoS One, v. 14, n. 2, FEB 22 2019. (10/50406-5, 16/01673-7, 17/03363-8)

MORALEZ-SILVA, EMMANUEL; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. Multiple Females Laying in Cattle Egret (&ITBubulcus ibis&IT) Clutches: Behavioral and Genetic Evidence. WATERBIRDS, v. 40, n. 4, p. 403-409, DEC 2017. (10/50406-5, 16/01673-7)

MINO, CAROLINA I.; DA SILVA AVELAR, LUIZA H.; DA SILVA, FAGNER M.; PEREZ, MANOLO F.; MENEZES, LUIZA F.; DEL LAMA, SILVIA N.. Genetic differentiation and historical demography of wood stork populations in Brazilian wetlands: Implications for the conservation of the species and associated ecosystems. AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, v. 27, n. 6, p. 1313-1324, DEC 2017. (10/52315-7, 10/50406-5)

DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF; ROCHA, CRISTIANO DOSUALDO; JARDIM, WILSON FIGUEIREDO; TSAI, JO-SZU; FREDERICK, PETER CRAWFORD. Sedentary nestlings of Wood Stork as monitors of mercury contamination in the gold mining region of the Brazilian Pantanal. Environmental Research, v. 111, n. 8, p. 1091-1095, NOV 2011. (10/50406-5)

ISABEL MINO, CAROLINA; TRUJILU GERONIMO, CRISTIANA; CONGRAINS CASTILLO, CARLOS; BONATELLI, ISABEL A. S.; ALVARENGA VALDES, TALITA; ACUNA LAROCA, BRUNO; NASSIF DEL LAMA, SILVIA. Genetic insights into the range expansion of the cattle egret (Pelecaniformes: Ardeidae) in Brazil and population differentiation between the native and colonized areas. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 136, n. 2, p. 15-pg., 2022-04-06. (16/01673-7, 10/50406-5)

CORREA, THAIS CAMILO; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF; DE SOUZA, JULIANA ROSSI; MINO, CAROLINA ISABEL. Genetic structuring among populations of the great egret, Ardea alba egretta, in major Brazilian wetlands. AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, v. 26, n. 2, p. 333-349, APR 2016. (10/52315-7, 10/50406-5)

DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF; DA SILVA AVELAR, LUIZA HELENA; XAVIER NASCIMENTO, JOAO LUIZ. Post-breeding movements of Wood Storks in Brazil and Argentina. JOURNAL OF FIELD ORNITHOLOGY, v. 86, n. 4, p. 283-287, DEC 2015. (10/52315-7, 10/50406-5)

LOPES, IARA F.; MINO, CAROLINA I.; ROCHA, CRISTIANO D.; OLIVEIRA, DALCI M. M.; DEL LAMA, SILVIA N.. Inferred kinship patterns reveal low levels of extra-pair paternity in the endangered Neotropical Jabiru Stork (Jabiru mycteria, Aves: Ciconiiformes). Genetica, v. 141, n. 4-6, p. 195-203, JUN 2013. (10/52315-7, 10/50406-5)

CHAHAD-EHLERS, SAMIRA; FUSHITA, ANGELA TERUMI; LACORTE, GUSTAVO AUGUSTO; PEREIRA DE ASSIS, PAMELA CARLA; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. Effects of habitat suitability for vectors, environmental factors and host characteristics on the spatial distribution of the diversity and prevalence of haemosporidians in waterbirds from three Brazilian wetlands. PARASITES & VECTORS, v. 11, MAY 2 2018. (16/01673-7, 10/50406-5)

CAMPANINI, EMELINE BONI; SANCHES, ALEXANDRA; HATANAKA, TERUMI; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF. Isolation and characterization of 11 microsatellite loci from cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) and cross-amplification in other Ardeidae species. CONSERVATION GENETICS RESOURCES, v. 4, n. 3, p. 707-709, SEP 2012. (10/50406-5)

MORAES DE CASTRO E SOUZA, ANDIARA SILOS; DEL LAMA, SILVIA NASSIF; MINO, CAROLINA ISABEL. Conspecific Brood Parasitism in the White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi (Aves: Pelecaniformes) Revealed by Microsatellites' Based Kinship-Reconstruction. OURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOG, v. 319A, n. 5, p. 8-pg., 2013-06-01. (10/50406-5)