''Plasmodium circumflexum'' is a parasite of the genus ''
Plasmodium
''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a ver ...
'' subgenus ''
Giovannolaia''.
Like all ''Plasmodium'' species ''P. circumflexum'' has both
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
and
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s.
Taxonomy
The parasite was first described by Kikuth in 1931 in a juniper thrush. It may have been the same species previous described by Labbe in 1894 who thought it was a species of ''
Haemoproteus
''Haemoproteus'' is a genus of alveolates that are parasitic in birds, reptiles and amphibians. Its name is derived from Greek: ''Haima'', "blood", and ''Proteus'', a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. The name ''Haemoprot ...
''.
Description
Schizonts: these are large and when mature may entirely encircle the erythrocyte nucleus.
Merozoites: each schizont gives rise to 13-30 merozoites (mean 19.8: standard deviation 5).
Gametocytes: these are large and when mature may entirely encircle the erythrocyte nucleus.
Distribution
This parasite is found in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United States.
Vectors
''
Culiseta morsitans''
''
Mansonia crassipes''
''
Theobaldia annulata''
Sporogeny but not transmission has been recorded in ''
Mansonia perturbans''.
Hosts
''P. circumflexum'' has been recorded infecting the following hosts:
*Shikra (''
Accipiter badius'')
[Salakij J, Lertwatcharasarakul P, Kasorndorkbua C, Salakij C (2012) ''Plasmodium circumflexum'' in a Shikra (''Accipiter badius''): phylogeny and ultra-structure of the haematozoa. Jpn J Vet Res 60(2-3):105-109]
*Eurasian Sparrowhawk (''
Accipiter nisus'')
[Tanigawa M, Sato Y, Ejiri H, Imura T, Chiba R, Yamamoto H, Kawaguchi M, Tsuda Y, Murata K, Yukawa M (2012) Molecular identification of avian haemosporidia in wild birds and mosquitoes on Tsushima Island, Japan. J Vet Med Sci]
*Sharp-shinned hawk (''
Accipiter striatus''),
[Kirkpatrick CE, Lauer DM. (1985) Hematozoa of raptors from southern New Jersey and adjacent areas. J Wildl. Dis. 21(1):1-6.]
*Red-winged blackbird (''
Agelaius phoeniceus''),
*Wood duck (''
Aix sponsa
The wood duck or Carolina duck (''Aix sponsa'') is a species of perching duck found in North America. The drake wood duck is one of the most colorful North American waterfowl.
Description
The wood duck is a medium-sized perching duck. A typi ...
''),
*Canvasbacks (''
Aythya valisineria''),
*Blue jay (''
Cyanocitta cristata''),
*Cape May warbler (''
Dendroica tigrina''),
*Gray cat bird (''
Dumella carolinensis''),
*Slate colour junicao (''
Junico hymenalis''),
*Song sparrow (''
Melospiza melodia''),
*Common merganser (''
Mergus merganser''),
*Cowbird (''
Molothrus ater ater''),
*Finch (''
Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis''),
*Trumpeter swan (''
Olor buccinator''),
*Chestnut-tailed starling (''
Sturnus malabaricus''),
*Brown thrasher (''
Toxostomar ufum''),
*White throated sparrow (''
Tromotrichio albicolis''),
*American robin (''
Turdus migratorius''),
*Juniper thrush (''
Turdus pilaris''),
*Wild guineafowl (''
Numida meleagris'')
[Earle RA, Horak IG, Huchzermeyer FW, Bennett GF, Braack LE, Penzhorn BL. (1991) The prevalence of blood parasites in helmeted guineafowls, ''Numida meleagris'', in the Kruger National Park. Onderstepoort J. Vet. Res. 58(3):145-147] - the pathological features in acute cases include anaemia, jaundice and splenomegaly; in the subacute cases severe splenomegaly, right ventricular hypertrophy and multifocal interstitial myocarditis.
[Huchzermeyer F.W. and Van Der Vyver F.H. (1991) Isolation of ''Plasmodium circumflexum'' from wild guineafowl (''Numida meleagris'') and the experimental infection in domestic poultry. Avian Path.20(2) 213 - 223]
*White throated sparrow (''
Zonotrichia albicollis
The white-throated sparrow (''Zonotrichia albicollis'') is a passerine bird of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae.
Etymology
The genus name ''Zonotrichia'' is from Ancient Greek (, ) and (, ). The specific ''albicollis'' is from Lati ...
'')
References
External links
*Picture of eythroctic forms - http://workforce.cup.edu/Buckelew/Plasmodium%20circumflexum.htm
circularis
Parasites of birds
{{plasmodium-stub