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Polychromophilus spp. (Haemosporida) in Malagasy bats: host specificity and insights on invertebrate vectors

Overview of attention for article published in Malaria Journal, August 2018
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  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (63rd percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (66th percentile)

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Title
Polychromophilus spp. (Haemosporida) in Malagasy bats: host specificity and insights on invertebrate vectors
Published in
Malaria Journal, August 2018
DOI 10.1186/s12936-018-2461-8
Pubmed ID
Authors

Beza Ramasindrazana, Steven M. Goodman, Najla Dsouli, Yann Gomard, Erwan Lagadec, Milijaona Randrianarivelojosia, Koussay Dellagi, Pablo Tortosa

Abstract

Bats are home to diverse haemosporidian parasites namely Plasmodium and Plasmodium-related. While information is available at a worldwide level, haemosporidian infection in bats from Madagascar is still scarce and recent changes in the taxonomy of the island's bat fauna, particularly the description of several new species, require a reassessment of previously described patterns, including blood parasite ecology and vectorial transmission. A sample representing seven of the nine known bat families and 31 of the 46 currently recognized taxa from Madagascar and collected in the western and central portions of the island were screened by PCR for the presence of Polychromophilus. In addition, Nycteribiidae flies parasitizing Miniopteridae and Vespertilionidae were screened for parasites with the aim to better understand aspects of vector transmission. Phylogenetic reconstruction using the mitochondrial cytochrome b encoding gene was used in a Bayesian analysis to examine the relationship between Polychromophilus recovered from Malagasy bats and those identified elsewhere. Polychromophilus infection was restricted to Miniopterus spp. (Miniopteridae), Myotis goudoti (Vespertilionidae), and Paratriaenops furculus (Rhinonycteridae), with an overall infection rate of 13.5%. Polychromophilus melanipherus was found infecting Miniopterus spp. and P. furculus, whereas Polychromophilus murinus was only recovered from M. goudoti. These two protozoan parasites species were also detected in bat flies species known to parasitize Miniopterus spp. and M. goudoti, respectively. Generalized linear model analyses were conducted to elucidate the effect of species and sex on haemoparasites infection in Miniopterus spp., which revealed that males have higher risk of infection than females and prevalence differed according to the considered Miniopterus host. Molecular screening of nycteribiid flies revealed three positive species for Polychromophilus spp., including Penicillidia sp. (cf. fulvida), Penicillidia leptothrinax, and Nycteribia stylidiopsis. These three fly species are known to parasitize Miniopterus spp. and M. goudoti and should be considered as potential vectors of Polychromophilus spp. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated the existence of at least four distinct clades within the genus Polychromophilus, two of which were documented in the present study. The screening of nycteribiid flies overlaid on the highly diversified genus Miniopterus, provides considerable insight into parasite transmission, with bat infection being associated with their roosting behaviour and the occurrence of specific arthropod vectors.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 7 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 49 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 49 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 7 14%
Researcher 7 14%
Student > Master 7 14%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 10%
Professor > Associate Professor 3 6%
Other 8 16%
Unknown 12 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 14 29%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 5 10%
Environmental Science 4 8%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 3 6%
Medicine and Dentistry 3 6%
Other 5 10%
Unknown 15 31%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 May 2019.
All research outputs
#6,973,730
of 23,316,003 outputs
Outputs from Malaria Journal
#2,046
of 5,657 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#119,931
of 335,836 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Malaria Journal
#31
of 92 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,316,003 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 69th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,657 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.8. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 63% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 335,836 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 63% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 92 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 66% of its contemporaries.