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โครงการรวบรวมและจัดทําเอกสารวารสารอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์

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IDENTIFICATION AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF HEMOSPORIDIAN IN

BARN OWL (TYTO ALBA)

1,2
4
3
5
4
Sujira Rotjanarat , Jiranan Insee , Vichan Watthanakaiwan , Kriengsak Hamarit , Nikorn Thongtip ,
8,*
7
6
Worawidh Wajjwalku , Yuttamol Muangkram & Manakorn Sukmak

ABSTRACT

In this study, haemosporidian blood parasitesof Barn owls (Tyto alba) samples sent by local farmer from
Chumphon Province for molecular sexing were detected by PCR technique. Eleven samples were positive
and four PCR positive samples were randomly selected and sent for preliminary sequencing on the
cytochrome b(Cytb) region of mitochondrial DNA. The alignment of obtained sequences showed two groups
of haemosporidian blood parasites; BO_2, BO_5 and BO_6) related to Haemoproteus spp. and BO_15 related
to Plasmodium spp. We selected BO_6 and BO_15 representatives of the two groups and extended longer
sequencing on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (CoxI) region. BO_6 was clustered with Haemoproteus
spp. found in other owl species, while BO_15 was clustered with Plasmodium spp. commonly found in
avian species. Moreover, BO_6 and BO_15 also showed greater genetic distance than previous study. This
implies that was possibly a new species of haemosporidian (Haemoproteus spp. and Haemoproteus spp.)
in Barn owl, due to the high value of the genetic distance. However, the genetic analysis of further genes is
needed to clarify this hypothesis.

Keywords: Barn owl, CoxI, Cytb, Haemoproteus spp., Plasmodium spp.

INTRODUCTION

Blood parasites are an indicator of immune quality in birds, and parasite prevalence data can
be used to reveal information about individual and population fitness (Nordling et al., 1998; Remple,

2004; Marzal et al., 2005; Valkiunas et al., 2006). Haemosporidian blood parasites, including
Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon and Plasmodium, are commonly found in wild birds (Bennett, 1987;

1 Center for Agricultural Biotechnology, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom, 73140, Thailand
2 Center of Excellence on Agricultural Biotechnology: (AG-BIO/PERDO-CHE), Bangkok 10900, Thailand
3 Department of Animal Production Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industrial Technology, Kalasin University, Kalasin, 46000,
Thailand
4 Entomology & Zoology Research Group, Plant Protection Research & Development Office, Department of Agriculture,
Chatuchuk, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
5 Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng
Saen, Nakhon Pathom, 73140, Thailand
6 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom, 73140,
Thailand
7 Graduate School of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525–8577, Japan
8 Department of Farm Resources and Production Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng
Saen, Nakhon Pathom, 73140, Thailand
* Corresponding author: fvetmksu@ku.ac.th

วารสารสัตว์ป่าเมืองไทย ปีที่ 24 พ.ศ. 2560 Journal of Wildlife in Thailand Vol. 24, 2017