Scientific publications

Pelecitus fulicaeatrae is a parasitic nematode from the family Onchocercidae. It is generally assumed to be widely distributed and to parasitise, at the adult stage, various birds from different families and orders. However, the host set and geographical range of this parasite requires verification with the use of molecular methods. We found females of P. fulicaeatrae in Fulica atra from the Russian Far East and examined them using morphological and molecular methods. Sequences of six genes were obtained for one specimen: 18S rRNA, 12S rRNA, rbp1, hsp70, myoHC and cox1. Based on these sequences, a molecular comparison of our specimen with that previously collected from Podiceps nigricollis (Spain) could be made. We found that the sequences of rbp1, hsp70 and myoHC gene were identical, while the molecular differences of 12S rRNA and cox1 gene sequences corresponded to the level of intraspecific variability in onchocercids. The differences by 18S rRNA gene sequences were at a low level, but could not be interpreted unambiguously in a taxonomic context. Overall, our results show that the isolates of the nematode from F. atra and from P. nigricollis are conspecific. Thus, we confirmed that P. fulicaeatrae parasitises birds from two different orders, Podicipediformes and Gruiformes, and occurs in Spain and in the Russian Far East. Our data support the recent conclusion that the genus Pelecitus is non-monophyletic.