Plasmodium coluzzii Chavatte & Grès & Snounou & Chabaud & Landau 2009, n. sp.

Overview & Synopsis

Plasmodium coluzzii Chavatte & Landau, n. sp.(Fig. 1B)TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: France. Landes, Saint-Julien-en-Born, 44°03’42’’N, 1°13’33’’W, blood smear of A. arvensis number 741U, 25.X.1996 (MNHN 440 LV PXIII, 61) (Fig. 3I).Paratypes: same data as holotype, blood smears of A. arvensis number 738U, 25.X.1996 (MNHN P2 -XXV, 1-23); 740U, 25.X.1996 (MNHN P2 -XXV, 24-43); 741U, 25.X.1996 (MNHN P2 -XXV, 44-64).ETYMOLOGY. — This species is dedicated to the memory of Alberto Coluzzi.DISTRIBUTION. — Known only from the type locality, Saint-Julien-en-Born, Landes, France.HOST. — Alauda arvensis (type host).DESCRIPTIONThe young schizonts cover ¹⁄ to ⅓ of the slightly enlarged RBC, where the median or sub-median nucleus is tilted sideways. The RBC rounds up as the schizonts mature, pushing the host nucleus to the edge of the cell, and often the parasites are found in RBCs without nucleus. Throughout schizont maturation, chromatin occurs as a peripheral crown in which one distinguishes granules and little nuclei around a clear vacuolated centre. The pigment in the more mature stages forms rough aggregates of agglomerated granules. The most characteristic stage is round in a rounded enucleate RBC, with the parasite nuclei tightly packed around a clear sinuous centre. Fully mature stages were not seen, and the number of nuclei is estimated to exceed 30.Gametocytes are large and round and are often found in RBCs devoid of nuclei.DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSISPlasmodium coluzzii n. sp. should be compared to P.bioccai,a parasite described in the magpie and found in the skylark. The two species differ by the smaller size of the schizonts of P. coluzzii n. sp. where the immature forms have dispersed and diffuse chromatin, features that contrast with the well-defined nuclei that can be observed even in the young schizonts of P. bioccai. The RBC nuclei, present in P. bioccai, are often absent in P. coluzzii n. sp.Some schizonts similar to those of P.coluzzii n. sp. had been observed in the magpie studied by Chavatte et al. (2007), but the paucity in the numbers observed had not allowed to distinguish the species.