Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: ELISABETH NEVES MUREB

Diagnosis of hemoparasites of the genus Trypanosoma sp. and Hepatozoon sp. in frogs of the species Thoropa miliaris 

Cycloramphidae, Hemogregarins, Microscopy, PCR, Trypanosomatids

The Anura Order, represented by toads, tree frogs and frogs, belongs to the Amphibia Class, along with the Gymnophiona and Caudata Orders. Due to their biphasic life cycle, which generally comprises an aquatic larval stage and a terrestrial adult stage, anurans are exposed to several hematophagous ectoparasites in both environments, such as leeches, dipterans and ticks, which, in turn, can serve as vectors in the transmission of hemoparasites. In free-living animals or animals from non-anthropic environments, parasitic infestations do not usually cause significant clinical changes, however, intense parasites may be associated with immunocompromised animals and changes in the environment where they live, making frogs good environmental indicators. Among the great diversity of hemoparasites found in anuran blood samples are hemogregarins, a term used to aggregate a group of hemoparasites, including those of the genus Hepatozoon, the most described in anurans and the trypanosomatids species of the genus Trypanosoma. To date, there are no reports in the literature investigating the occurrence of hemoparasites of the genus Trypanosoma and Hepatozoon in frogs of the Cycloramphidae family. This family gathers species with peculiar reproductive biology, such as the species Thoropa miliaris, endemic to the Atlantic Forest, whose spawning and larvae development occurs exclusively in water films that run on rocky outcrops. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of hemoparasites of the genera Trypanossoma and Hepatozoon in blood samples of cycloramphids of the Thoropa miliaris species collected in the Costa Verde Region, in the municipality of Itaguaí, Rio de Janeiro, through morphological, morphometric and molecular analyses, followed by a phylogenetic study of the SSU 18s gene, to characterize the species found.