Article
Investigation of Bartonella spp. in brazilian mammals with emphasis on rodents and bats from the Atlantic Forest
Registro en:
OLIVEIRA, Jonathan Gonçalves et al. Investigation of Bartonella spp. in brazilian mammals with emphasis on rodents and bats from the Atlantic Forest. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, v. 13, p. 80-89, July 2020.
2213-2244
10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.07.004
Autor
Oliveira, Jonathan Gonçalves
Rozental, Tatiana
Guterres, Alexandro
Teixeira, Bernardo Rodrigues
Silva, Beatriz Elise Andrade
Costa Neto, Sócrates Fraga da
Furtado, Marina Carvalho
Moratelli, Ricardo
D'Andrea, Paulo Sérgio
Lemos, Elba Regina Sampaio de
Resumen
The Bartonella species are zoonotic agents that infect mammals and are transmitted by arthropod vectors.
Approximately 18 distinct genotypes cause diseases in humans, and may be spread by both domestic and wild
animals. In Brazil, Bartonella genotypes have been identified in several species of wild mammals, and in the
present study, we analyzed samples from non-human primates (marmosets), marsupials, rodents, and bats, and
compared them with the genotypes described in mammals from Brazil, to examine the distribution of Bartonella
genotypes in two impacted areas of Rio de Janeiro state, in southeastern Brazil. We used polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) methods to detect the Bartonella DNA using partial sequences of the gltA, ftsZ, and groEL genes. We
generated Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood trees to characterize the positive PCR samples and infer
the phylogenetic relationships of the genotypes. A total of 276 animals were captured, including 110 bats, 91
rodents, 38 marsupials, and 37 marmosets. The DNA of Bartonella was amplified from tissue samples collected
from 12 (4.34%) of the animals, including eight rodents – Akodon cursor (5/44) and Nectomys squamipes (3/27) –
and four bats, Artibeus lituratus (3/58) and Carollia perspicillata (1/15). We identified Bartonella genotypes closely
related to those described in previous studies, as well as new genotypes in both the rodent and the bat samples.
Considering the high diversity of the Bartonella genotypes and hosts identified in the present study, further
research is needed to better understand the relationships between the different Bartonella genotypes and their
vectors and host species. The presence of Bartonella in the wild rodents and bats from the study area indicates
that the local human populations may be at risk of infection by Bartonella due to the spillover of these strains
from the wild environment to domestic and peri-domestic environments.