Genetički diverzitet i struktura populacija beskrilnih muva familije Nycteribiidae i grinja familije Spinturnicidae, ektoparazita dve litofilne vrste slepih miševa u Srbiji
Genetic diversity and population structure of bat flies of the family Nycteribiidae and mites of the family Spinturnicidae, ectoparasites of the two cavernicolous bat species in Serbia
2023
Document Type:
Doctoral thesis (Published version)
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© 2023 by the author
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Show full item recordAbstract:
This study represents the first investigation of genetic diversity of mitochondrial genes of bat flies and mites, ectoparasites of two bat species, in Serbia. Species composition, host specificity, population structure and quantitative parameters of parasitism were analyzed. The flies were tested for the presence of the blood parasite Polychromophilus sp., whose genetic diversity was also analyzed. The genetic diversity and population structure of one host species, Miniopterus schreibersii, were analyzed and then compared with those of its ectoparasites. Samples were collected from 9 sites in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from a total of 241 host individuals (M. schreibersii 168, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum 73). 369 individuals of bat flies (4 species) and 564 individuals of mites (2 species) were collected, with a marked specificity for the primary host and without a single case of cross-infection recorded, despite the fact that the host species occasionally shared roosts. A host species that forms larger and denser colonies and migrates over longer distances, M. schreibersii, had a higher intensity of infection and species diversity of bat flies, and the flies collected from it had greater genetic diversity than those collected from the other, less mobile host R. ferrumequinum, as expected. The genetic diversity parameters of the host M. schreibersii and two ectoparasitic species, the bat fly Nycteribia schmidlii and the mite Spinturnix psi, were not significantly correlated. Infection with the parasite Polychromophilus melanipherus was detected in 33 bat flies, only one of which originated from the host R. ferrumequinum - the first such case recorded so far. The importance of using blood-feeding ectoparasites in non-invasive surveys of bat populations for the presence of infections was confirmed.
Keywords:
Miniopterus; Rhinolophus; Nycteribiidae; Spinturnicidae; Haemosporidia; Polychromophilus; mtDNK; Host; bats; ectoparasitesSource:
2023, 1-125Funding / projects:
- Genetic and phenetic diversity in natural populations across different environments - contribution of B chromosome polymorphism (RS-MESTD-Basic Research (BR or ON)-173003)
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200007 (University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research 'Siniša Stanković') (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200007)
- “Monitoring skloništa i populacija slepih miševa Chiroptera u Srbiji” (broj 401-00-200/2016-17)