Redescription, molecular characterisation and Wolbachia endosymbionts of Mansonella (Tupainema) dunni (Mullin & Orihel, 1972) (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) from the common treeshrew Tupaia glis Diard & Duvaucel (Mammalia: Scandentia) in Peninsular Malaysia

Ahmad Syihan Mat Udin; Shigehiko Uni; Jules Rodrigues; Coralie Martin; Kerstin Junker; Takeshi Agatsuma; Van Lun Low; Weerachai Saijuntha; Hasmahzaiti Omar; Nur Afiqah Zainuri; Masako Fukuda; Makoto Matsubayashi; Daisuke Kimura; Hiroyuki Takaoka; Rosli Ramli

doi:10.1016/j.crpvbd.2023.100154

Redescription, molecular characterisation and Wolbachia endosymbionts of Mansonella (Tupainema) dunni (Mullin & Orihel, 1972) (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) from the common treeshrew Tupaia glis Diard & Duvaucel (Mammalia: Scandentia) in Peninsular Malaysia

Curr Res Parasitol Vector Borne Dis. 2023 Nov 23:5:100154. doi: 10.1016/j.crpvbd.2023.100154. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Ahmad Syihan Mat Udin^{1

2}, Shigehiko Uni^{1

3}, Jules Rodrigues⁴, Coralie Martin⁴, Kerstin Junker⁵, Takeshi Agatsuma⁶, Van Lun Low⁷, Weerachai Saijuntha⁸, Hasmahzaiti Omar^{1

9}, Nur Afiqah Zainuri¹, Masako Fukuda¹⁰, Makoto Matsubayashi¹¹, Daisuke Kimura³, Hiroyuki Takaoka⁷, Rosli Ramli¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
² Centre for Research in Development, Social and Environment (SEEDS), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Selangor, Malaysia.
³ Department of Health, Sports, and Nutrition, Faculty of Health and Welfare Studies, Kobe Women's University, Kobe, 650-0046, Japan.
⁴ UMR7245, MCAM, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005, Paris, France.
⁵ National Collection of Animal Helminths, Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors Programme, ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa.
⁶ Department of Environmental Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku, 783-8505, Japan.
⁷ Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁸ Faculty of Medicine, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, 44000, Thailand.
⁹ Museum of Zoology (Block J14), Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
¹⁰ Institute for Research Management, Oita University, Oita, 879-5593, Japan.
¹¹ Graduate School of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, 598-8531, Japan.

Abstract

The genus Mansonella Faust, 1929 includes 29 species, mainly parasites of platyrrhine monkeys in South America and anthropoid apes in Africa. In Malaysia, Mansonella (Tupainema) dunni (Mullin & Orihel, 1972) was described from the common treeshrew Tupaia glis Diard & Duvaucel (Scandentia). In a recent classification of the genus Mansonella, seven subgenera were proposed, with M. (Tup.) dunni as a monotypic species in the subgenus Tupainema. In this study, we collected new material of M. (Tup.) dunni from common treeshrews in Peninsular Malaysia and redescribed the morphological features of this species. We found that M. (Tup.) dunni differs from M. (Cutifilaria) perforata Uni et al., 2004 from sika deer Cervus nippon (Cetartiodactyla) in Japan, with regards to morphological features and predilection sites in their respective hosts. Based on multi-locus sequence analyses, we examined the molecular phylogeny of M. (Tup.) dunni and its Wolbachia genotype. Species of the genus Mansonella grouped monophyletically in clade ONC5 and M. (Tup.) dunni was placed in the most derived position within this genus. Mansonella (Tup.) dunni was closely related to M. (M.) ozzardi (Manson, 1897) from humans in Central and South America, and most distant from M. (C.) perforata. The calculated p-distances between the cox1 gene sequences for M. (Tup.) dunni and its congeners were 13.09% for M. (M.) ozzardi and 15.6-16.15% for M. (C.) perforata. The molecular phylogeny of Mansonella spp. thus corroborates their morphological differences. We determined that M. (Tup.) dunni harbours Wolbachia endosymbionts of the supergroup F genotype, in keeping with all other Mansonella species screened to date.

Keywords: Filaria; Host switching; Mansonella (Mansonella) ozzardi; Mansonella (Tupainema) dunni; Multi-locus sequence analysis; Onchocercinae; Southeast Asia; Wolbachia.