First Molecular Investigation of Haemosporidian Parasites in Thai Bat Species

Malaria parasites in the phylum Apicomplexa (Order: Haemosporida) infect diverse vertebrates and invertebrate hosts. At least seven genera of haemosporidian parasites have been described to exclusively infect bats. Most of these parasites remain enigmatic with a poorly known host range. Here, we investigated 271 bats belonging to 21 species and seven families from six provinces of Thailand. Overall, 124 out of 271 bats (45.8%) were positive for haemosporidian parasites, while none had based on microscopic examination of blood smears and PCR amplification. We obtained 19 distinct cytochrome b () nucleotide haplotypes of from seven bat species (families: Craseonycteridae, Hipposideridae, Pteropodidae, and Rhinolophidae). was found in four bat species (Craseonycteridae, Emballonuridae, Megadermatidae, and Pteropodidae) and in two species (Emballonuridae, Vespertilionidae). Phylogenetic analysis inferred from sequences placed into 2 different clades. Most infections were found in insectivorous bats and clustered together with a sequence from in Cambodia (in subclade 1a). A single sequence of obtained from a frugivorous bat, , was placed in the same clade with from the same bat species previously reported in Malaysia (clade 2). in these Thai bats were clearly separated from the African isolates previously reported in bats in the family Rhinolophidae. from was placed in a distinct clade (clade 2) from isolated from (clade 1) These results confirmed that at least two distinct species of are found in Thailand Collectively, presented no host specificity. Although seemed to be infected by only its respective parasite does not show specificity to only a single bat host. and seem to infect a narrower host range or are somehow restricted to bats in the families Vespertilionidae and Emballonuridae, respectively.