Toxoplasma gondii : prevalence in species and genotypes of British bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus)

Dodd, NS; Lord, JS; Jehle, R; Parker, S; Parker, F; Brooks, DR; Hide, G

Abstract

Few studies have investigated Toxoplasma gondii infections in bat populations and none have reported its
presence in protected British bat species. Using a collection of dead/euthanased bats collected from Lancashire,
UK, two species of bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus pygmaeus) were tested using a
highly sensitive SAG1-PCR method specific for detection of T. gondii DNA (n = 77; 71 P. pipistrellus and
6 P. pygmaeus). Whilst some potential bias may exist in the sampling strategy, an overall prevalence of
10.39% (±6.06%; 95%CI) was detected. All P. pipistrellus, were also genotyped using eleven polymorphic
microsatellite loci to determine their local population structure. The programme STRUCTURE revealed
that the majority of individuals (83%) were derived from one interbreeding population, and the remaining
individuals (17%) had mixed genetic origins. There was no significant difference in the frequency of T.
gondii infection or geographical distribution between subclusters. As all British bats are insectivorous,
the routes of infection with T. gondii remain elusive. However, the locally large and panmictic gene pool
suggests that intraspecies transmission could be applicable.

Citation

Dodd, N., Lord, J., Jehle, R., Parker, S., Parker, F., Brooks, D., & Hide, G. (2014). Toxoplasma gondii : prevalence in species and genotypes of British bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus). Experimental Parasitology, 139, 6-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2014.02.007

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 9, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Feb 19, 2014
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jan 21, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Experimental Parasitology
• Print ISSN: 0014-4894
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 139
• Pages: 6-11
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2014.02.007
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2014.02.007
• Related Public URLs: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014489414000241
• Additional Information: Access Information : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in journal Experimental Parasitology . Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Experimental Parasitology Volume 139, April 2014, Pages 6–11.; Funders : British Society for Parasitology;University of Salford