Trypanosomatidae (Kinetoplastea: Trypanosomatida) diversity infecting the South American coati Nasua nasua (Carnivora: Procyonidae) in urban forest fragments in the Brazilian Midwest.

INTRODUCTION

South American coatis are reported as key-hosts of trypanosomatid species in Brazilian Pantanal, presenting high parasitemia and infection rates, long-lasting infections, ability to bioaccumulate Trypanosoma evansi, T. rangeli and different genotypes of T. cruzi, and biological features that favor these parasites' transmission. Moreover, this mammal species was also reported parasitized by the monoxenous trypanosomatid Crithidia mellificae and included in the epidemiological scenario of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Campo Grande (CG), Brazilian Midwest. Within this context, the aim of this work was to assess the diversity of trypanosomatid species in coatis from CG.

METHODS

Samples of 110 South American coatis captured in two forest fragments were submitted to Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (nPCR) of small ribosomal ribonucleic acid subunit (SSU rRNA) gene and Sanger sequencing analyses.

RESULTS

The positivity rate of nPCR was 36.4% (40/110) among individuals, including infections by Leishmania infantum, L. amazonensis, T. cruzi and the Molecular Operational Taxonomic Unit Trypanosomatidae sp. CROT. When combining SSU rRNA detection and sequencing with previous published data from the same coati cohort, we observed a positivity rate of 47.3% (52/110), in single (36.4%; n = 40/110) or mixed Trypanosomatidae infections (10.9%; n = 12/110).

DISCUSSION: Our findings indicate the South American coati is a key-hosts species in the ecology of trypanosomatids also in the urban environment of CG.