Trypanosoma (Euglenozoa: Kinetoplastea) infections in rodents, bats, and shrews along an elevation and disturbance gradient in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia
Abstract
Surveillance of wildlife pathogens is critically important to the conservation of species and human health. However, few species of wildlife in biodiverse countries like Indonesia, especially endemic species in intact ecosystems, have been screened for most wildlife pathogens, including the abundant and diverse blood parasites in the family Trypanosomatidae. We used PCR and sequencing to screen for the presence of Trypanosoma infections in 616 native mammalian specimens (355 samples from 15 rodent species, 155 samples from 7 shrew species, and 96 samples from 12 bat species) collected in 2013 and 2018 along an elevation and disturbance gradient in and adjacent to Cagar Alam Gunung Dako, Toli-Toli, Central Sulawesi. We identified Trypanosoma infections with an average prevalence of 22.1% across all species, 21.7% in rodents, 30.3% in shrews, and 10.4% in bats. Infections were dominated by sequences similar to T. cyclops in the Theileri clade, which accounted for 86.6% of infections and are most likely native trypanosomes to Sulawesi. The second most common trypanosome sequences matched cosmopolitan and probably introduced trypanosomes in the Lewisi clade. They accounted for 9.7% of infections in all mammals but were only detected in rodents of the family Muridae where they accounted for 16.9% of infections. We also detected five infections in bats (50% of bat infections) by two trypanosomes from the Cruzi clade, one matching T. dionisii and the other unassignable to a named species but with sequence similarity to a diverse clade of trypanosomes found in Neotropical bats, Australian marsupials and rodents, and Malagasy lemurs. We found significant differences in prevalence of the Theileri clade (T. cyclops) among elevations with higher infection rates in more intact and healthier rainforest. While no health impacts are evident from infections by these Theileri clade (T. cyclops) trypanosomes, their infections across mammalian orders including rodents, bats, shrews, primates and marsupials suggest that they may infect humans and domestic livestock. Our discovery of infections of rodents on Mt. Dako by introduced trypanosomes from the Lewisi clade and infections of bats by T. dionisii and an unnamed trypanosome from the Cruzi clade warrant further surveillance of trypanosome infections in wildlife of Sulawesi.
Mursyid, Ahmad, Anang Setiawan Achmadi, Wilson Novarino, Heru Handika, Herjuno Ari Nugroho, Syahfitri Anita, Amy Louise Adams, Karen Marie Cavey Rowe, and Kevin Christopher Rowe. 2023. Trypanosoma (Euglenozoa: Kinetoplastea) infections in rodents, bats, and shrews along an elevation and disturbance gradient in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. In Contributions to Mammalogy and Zooarchaeology of Wallacea, ed. K. M. Helgen and R. K. Jones. Records of the Australian Museum 75(5): 663–671.
