phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:2268 DOI 10.3390/pathogens12070898 Comparative Analysis of the Exo-Erythrocytic Development of Five Lineages of Haemoproteus majoris, a Common Haemosporidian Parasite of European Passeriform Birds Haemoproteus parasites (Apicomplexa, Haemosporida) are widespread pathogens of birds, with a rich genetic (about 1900 lineages) and morphospecies (178 species) diversity. Nonetheless, their life cycles are poorly understood. The exo-erythrocytic stages of three Haemoproteus majoris (widespread generalist parasite) lineages have been previously reported, each in a different bird species. We aimed to further study and compare the development of five H. majoris lineages-hCCF5, hCWT4, hPARUS1, hPHSIB1, and hWW2-in a wider selection of natural avian hosts. A total of 42 individuals belonging to 14 bird species were sampled. Morphospecies and parasitemia were determined by microscopy of blood films, lineages by DNA-barcoding a 478 bp section of the cytochrome b gene, and exo-erythrocytic stages by histology and chromogenic in situ hybridization. The lineage hCWT4 was morphologically characterized as H. majoris for the first time. All lineage infections exclusively featured megalomeronts. The exo-erythrocytic stages found in all examined bird species were similar, particularly for the lineages hCCF5, hPARUS1, and hPHSIB1. Megalomeronts of the lineages hWW2 and hCWT4 were more similar to each other than to the former three lineages. The kidneys and gizzard were most often affected, followed by lungs and intestines; the site of development showed variation depending on the lineage. eng Avian Haemosporidians; Malaria Parasites; Host-Specificity; Plasmodium; Hematozoa 2023-11-02T09:29:36.080Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Duc;Mélanie; FN:Mélanie Duc X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5468-2594 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Valkiūnas;Gediminas; FN:Gediminas Valkiūnas X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0594-0280 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Weissenböck;Herbert; FN:Herbert Weissenböck X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8197-6379 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Ilgūnas;Mikas; FN:Mikas Ilgūnas END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Matt;Julia; FN:Julia Matt END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Nedorost;Nora; FN:Nora Nedorost END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Iezhova;Tatjana; FN:Tatjana Iezhova END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Himmel;Tanja; FN:Tanja Himmel X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9443-8967 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Harl;Josef; FN:Josef Harl X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4915-3943 END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 1106928 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:2268 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:2268/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline