Diversity of Sarcocystidae family protozoa identified in naturally infected wild birdbrain

• Grant number: 21/12482-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Martins Soares
• Grantee: Luiza Barbosa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Sarcocystidae family belongs to the Apicomplexa phylum and is composed of three subfamilies and their respective genera: Sarcocystinae (Frenkelia and Sarcocystis); Cystoisosporinae (Cystoisospora); and Toxoplasmatinae (Besnoitia, Hammondia, Neospora, and Toxoplasma). The life cycle of Sarcocystids is characterized by definitive and intermediate hosts, in which infections are generally mild or asymptomatic. Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most important protozoa for public health due to its zoonotic potential; infections by this protozoan have been reported in several species of wild birds. Sarcocystis infections can have mild or asymptomatic manifestations in natural hosts, and severe in aberrant hosts. In birds, Sarcocystosis can manifest as a hyperacute disease due to an oocyst/sporocyst infection. However, information about sarcocystosis in birds in Brazil is scarce. The present proposal aims to specifically identify parasites of the Sarcocystidae family in naturally infected free-living wild birds in Brazil, coming from the Department of Parks and Green Areas, Municipal Secretariat of Green and Environment of the city of São Paulo, SP, carrying out diagnostic screening through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of neurological tissue fragments. The detection system will be based on the amplification of gene loci and the Sanger sequencing method, which will allow the identification of agents at the taxonomic level of the species. The proposal may provide important information about which Sarcocystids occur in a diverse sampling of wild free-living birds and even bring knowledge of new haplotypes. It will still be able to stimulate and subsidize similar research in other biomes and with other populations and thus, multiply and propagate knowledge about Sarcocystids.(AU)