The life history and host specificity of Hepatozoon clamatae, Apicomplexa, adeleorina, and its-1 nucleotide sequence variation of species of hepatozoon of certain frogs and mosquitoes from Ontario

grantor: University of TorontoThe life cycle of Hepatozoon clamatae Stebbins 1905 was studied in green frogs (Rana clamitans melanota), bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana), Northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens), and the mosquito, Culex territans. Gametogenesis, fertilization, and sporogonic development occurred within cells of the Malpighian tubules of laboratory-reared C. territans that had fed on laboratory-reared bullfrogs, green frogs, and leopard frogs fed sporocysts 35-70 days previously. Gamonts of H. clamatae induced nuclear fragmentation in host erythrocytes. The life cycle, morphological, and morphometric features of H. clamatae are compared with Hepatozoon catesbeianae, a parasite of bullfrogs and green frogs in the region. Nucleotide sequence analysis of these sympatric species revealed that only 6 nucleotide sites of their 129 base pair ITS-1 regions of the SSU RNA genes were variable among 4 isolates of H. clamatae and 2 isolates of H. catesbeianae. Hepatozoon clamatae is redescribed based on data from this study and from Stebbins' original description.M.Sc