Prevalence of Malassezia spp. and its morphophysiological and molecular identification of Malassezia spp. in birds from a Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center

• Grant number: 21/07290-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: December 01, 2021
• End date: March 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Raphael Lucio Andreatti Filho
• Grantee: Cauê Bastos Tertuliano dos Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Psittacidae is the family of birds with the highest number of endangered species due to widespread illegal trade in Brazil. The animals from trafficking are subject to unhealthy conditions that can lead to immunological disorders and the development of primary and secondary infections which may have a zoonotic character, thus becoming relevant to health public. Different species of Malassezia have been detected in dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, camels and even waterfowl. In birds, Malassezia species have already been isolated from different anatomical sites such as skin, crest, corner of eye and throat, as well as in faeces. Two new species were described in Brazil in parrots (2016), M. brasiliensis and M. psittaci, however, there are just few studies reporting the rate occurrence of Malassezia in different bird species and more research is still needed. It is intended to evaluate a total of 100 pecimens of parrots, which are in a captive environment at CEMPAS (Center for Medicine and Wild Animal Research), FMVZ/UNESP-Botucatu. After physical restraint of the animals, swab samples of different anatomical sites will be collected. These will be grown in modified Dixon agar and the colonies of suspicious yeasts will be isolated, in tubes containing the same medium of culture for later classical morphophysiological identification and by methodologies molecular. Phylogenetic analyzes based on the ribosomal DNA region and the beta-tubulin gene will be performed with the isolates obtained along with sequences deposited in the GenBank databases. The results obtained here may assist in future diagnosis and management of these animals, as well as enriching the knowledge of the area.