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''Haemoproteus'' is a genus of protozoa that are parasitic in birds, reptiles and amphibians. Its name is derived from Greek: ''Haima'', "blood", and ''Proteus'', a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. The name ''Haemoproteus'' was first used in the description of ''Haemoproteus columbae'' in the blood of the pigeon ''Columba livia'' by Kruse in 1890. This was also the first description of this genus. Two other genera – ''Halteridium'' and ''Simondia'' – are now considered to be synonyms of ''Haemoproteus''. The protozoa are intracellular parasites that infect the erythrocytes. They are transmitted by blood sucking insects including mosquitoes, biting midges (''Culicoides''), louse flies (''Hippoboscidae'') and tabanid flies (''Tabanidae''). Infection with this genus is sometimes known as pseudomalaria because of the parasites' similarities with ''Plasmodium'' species. Within the genus there are at least 173 species, 5 varieties and 1 subspecies. Of these over 140 occur in birds, 16 in reptiles and 3 in amphibia: 14 orders and 50 families of birds are represented. These include gamebirds (''Galliformes''), waterfowl (''Anseriformes''), raptors (''Accipitriformes'', ''Falconiformes'', ''Strigiformes''), pigeons and doves (''Columbiformes''), and perching birds or songbirds (''Passeriformes''). ==History== The first description of this genus was in 1890 by Kruse who described ''Haemoproteus columbae'' in the blood of the pigeon ''Columba livia''. McCallum in 1897 showed that the process of exflagellation was part of sexual reproduction in these parasites and thought it probable that the same process occurred in ''Plasmodium''. The first record of a haemoproteid parasite in a reptile was by Simond in 1901 who gave it the name ''Haemamoeba metchnikovi''. The Sergent brothers in 1906 showed that the ectoparasitic fly ''Pseudolynchia canariensis'' was the vector of ''Haemoproteus columbae''. Aragao in 1908 demonstrated the schizogonic stages of ''Haemoproteus columbae'' in the endothelial cells of the lungs of nestling pigeons infected by the bite of infected ''Pseudolynchia''. It was generally believed that transmission of the parasites was by regurgitation during a blood meal until Adie showed that the parasites develop in the salivary glands in a fashion analogous to that of ''Plasmodium'' in mosquitoes. The genus ''Halterium'' was created by the French parasitologist Alphonse Labbe for a species he observed with gametocytes in erythrocytes, with pigment granules, and halter-shaped when fully formed. This genus was soon subsumed into the genus ''Haemoproteus''. The genus ''Haemocystidium'' was created to give a name to the haemoproteid of a gecko belonging to the genus ''Hemidactylus'' in Sri Lanka by Castellani and Willey in 1904. A second species in this genus was described in 1909 by Johnston and Cleland who found pigmented gametocytes in the blood of the Australian tortoise ''Chelodina longicollis''. These species were transferred to ''Haemoproteus'' in 1926 by Wenyon. The genus was resurrected by Garnham in 1966 when he created a new generic name – ''Simondia'' – for the haemoproteids of chelonians. He followed the opinions of Wenyon, Hewitt and DeGiusti and suggested that all these parasites belonged to the one species – ''Simondia metchnikovi''. He retained the name ''Haemocystidium'' for the haemoproteids of lizards. A different genus of vectors was identified in 1957 by Fallis and Wood when they identified ''Haemoproreus nettionis'' in ''Culicoides downesi'' Wirth and Hubert in Ontario, Canada. Levine and Campbell in 1971 moved all the species in ''Simondia'' and ''Haemocystidium'' into ''Haemoproteus'' an opinion that was followed by subsequent authors. The genus ''Haemocystidium'' was resurrected again by Telford in 1996 when he described three new species of protozoa in geckos from Pakistan. This genus like those of many protozoa may be further modified once additional DNA sequences are available. For instance, many DNA sequences have been identified for Haemoproteus in birds around the world in recent years, leading to new knowledge about the previously unknown diversity of this parasite in different regions 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Haemoproteus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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