Dataset of Chakarov et al. vector-mediated parent-to-offspring transmission

Dataset on genetic distance between Leucocytozoon infections of buzzard chicks with explanatory variables - similarity of chick morphs, mother's and father's morphs (0-different, 1- same), coordinates of both hosts, geographic distance between both hosts, time difference between both hosts, identity of host broods and host mothers

Genotypes used by Chakarov et al. Apparent mother to offspring transmission

genotypes from loci genotyped in 126 individuals for 15 loci described in Suppl. table 1 of Chakarov et al. "Apparent vector-mediated parent-to-offspring transmission in an avian malaria-like parasite

Nestling table used by Chakarov et al apparent vector mediated parent to offspring transmission

Phenotypic data of nestlings used in Chakarov et al. including morphs of nestlings and parent, relative year of sampling and nest coordinate

R code used in Chakarov et al. Apparent vector-mediated parent-to-offspring transmission in an avian malaria-like parasite

R code used in Chakarov et al. Apparent vector-mediated parent-to-offspring transmission in an avian malaria-like parasite, adaptation of source folder needed on setwd("C:/Users/Downloads"

Table_1_Mitochondrial and apicoplast genome copy abundances of haemosporidian parasites are explained by host species and parasitic lineage.xlsx

Endosymbiotic organelles, such as mitochondria and plastids, contain own remnant genomes (nucleoids), whose variable abundance in cells may be adaptive to the physiological necessities and functions of the cells. Unicellular apicomplexan parasites contain one mitochondrium and one apicoplast with variable genome copy numbers. We measured the abundance of mitochondrial, apicoplast and nuclear genome copies in a set of avian blood samples infected with haemosporidian blood parasites, belonging to the three main genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon. We designed general primers suitable for qPCR, amplifying fragments of the mitogenome, plastome and nuclear genomes of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites. We measured the amplification of these fragments in 153 samples of 23 avian host species and infected with 33 parasitic lineages. We estimate on average several hundred mitochondrial genome copies and several tens of apicoplast copies per haploid gametocyte cell with substantial variation among samples. Host species appeared to differ in their mitogenome abundance while parasitic lineages differed in plastome abundance per cell (per nuclear copy signal). We did not find consistent differences between parasite genera or higher avian taxa. Parasite lineages and host bird species did not differ consistently in infection intensity, estimated from parasite to host nuclear signals, which may indicate that samples were taken at different stages of infection. However, this and similar results remain to be cross-validated with in-situ imaging techniques. The novel molecular tools introduced here offer avenues for the characterization of nucleoid abundance of haemosporidian parasites over environmental conditions and parasitic developmental stages. Such measures will improve our understanding of parasite physiology, ecology, the coadaptation and coevolution with hosts and suggest possible augmentations to standard methods in the research field.</p

Population dynamics of goshawks, buzzards and eagle owls.

<p>Dynamics of goshawk A and buzzard B and eagle owl population densities in the period 1989–2009 in three adjacent plots in Eastern Westphalia, Germany. Eagle owls inhabit the central plot only and densities are calculated over its surface.</p

Eagle owl influence on territory dynamics of goshawks and buzzards.

<p>Territory dynamics, measured as the joint percentage of all territories that were newly founded or became extinct in the period 2000–2009 when eagle owls colonized the central plot. Percentages were significantly different in goshawks (black bars), but not buzzards (grey bars).</p

Table_1_Genetic infrapopulation sizes in blood parasites: a pilot quantification of the bottleneck in louse fly vectors.xlsx

IntroductionBottleneck events are crucial for the strength of genetic drift, selection and speed of evolution. They are believed to play a particularly prominent role for parasitic infrapopulations, inhabiting single host individuals, which are often established by very few parasite individuals during transmission. In vector-borne pathogens, the bottlenecking effects can even be serialized through repeated filtering of parasitic stages at different tissues and organs of the vector. Using qPCR we aimed to quantify the number of potentially transmittable sporozoites of the hemosporidian blood parasite Haemoproteus columbae in the specialized vector louse flies Pseudolynchia canariensis which transmit these parasites between house pigeon hosts Columba livia.ResultsBased on qPCR measurements of organ-derived DNA of individual louse flies, we estimate that the midgut of these vectors contains on average 20 parasites, the hindgut and other intestines ca. 50 parasites and the salivary glands ca. 5 parasite cells. Nearly one third of all vector individuals appeared to lack parasite DNA, despite having only infected hosts as blood meal sources. The magnitude of parasite numbers in midgut and salivary glands tended to correlate positively.DiscussionOur results indicate, potential severe bottlenecking of parasite populations during individual transmission events and a probable effect of individual vector immunity on this variable. However, this may be partly alleviated by the coloniality of house pigeons, the frequency of louse flies and their daily feeding events in most populations, leading to repeated transmission opportunities, decreased quasi-vertical transmission between parents and offspring and probable panmixia of Haemoproteus columbae lineages. Many of these mechanisms might not apply in other host-vector systems. We propose several additional molecular and microscopical tools to improve the accuracy of estimating parasite population sizes in vectors and call for more estimations in different vector species to better understand the co-evolution between malaria-like blood parasites and their avian and insect hosts.</p

Goshawk and buzzard densities in the three plots and two decades of study.

<p>Densities (± SE) of goshawks A and buzzards B in the study area in Eastern Westpahlia in relation to the decade of study (black: 1989–1999, white: decade of eagle owl recolonization, 2000–2009) and plot of study.</p

Data IGP

collected in the field; software used to create the dat