Polychromophilus is a genus of protozoa that infects bats. These parasite is transmitted by insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

 vectors most of whom are presently unknown. Known vectors include species of Nycteribiid

Nycteribiidae

Nycteribiidae of the true fly superfamily Hippoboscoidea are known as "bat flies", together with their close relatives the Streblidae. As the latter do not seem to be a monophyletic group, it is conceivable to unite all bat flies in a single family....

 flies.

The type species Polychromophilus melanipherus was described by Dionisi in 1898.

Taxonomy

The genus was divided into two sungenera - Polychromophilus and Bioccala

Bioccala

Bioccala is a genus of parasitic protozoa belonging to the phylum Apicomplexia.- Host range :The only known host of these parasites is the intermediate roundleaf bat ....

but the subgenus Bioccala was raised to genus status in 1984.

Description

Merogony occurs in the mesodermal cells of various organs before finally occurring in Kupffer cell

Kupffer cell

Kupffer cells, also known as Browicz-Kupffer cells and stellate macrophages, are specialized macrophages located in the liver lining the walls of the sinusoids that form part of the reticuloendothelial system .-History:The cells were first observed by Karl Wilhelm von Kupffer in 1876...

s of the liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

 and the reticuloendothelial cells of the lung

Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...

. The meronts themselves are tiny.

Schizonts infect the lung tissues of the host. They are large and develop in a much hypertrophied host cell surrounded by a capsule and with complex granular nuclei in the older stages.

The gamonts are found in the erythrocytes.

Oocysts form on midgut of the vectors.

Phylogenetics

This genus along with Haemoproteus

Haemoproteus

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...

and Hepatocystis

Hepatocystis

Hepatocystis is a genus of parasitic protozoa transmitted by midges of the Culicoides genus. Hosts include Old World primates, bats, hippopotamus and squirrels. This genus is not found in the New World...

appears to be a sister clade to Plasmodium

Plasmodium

Plasmodium is a genus of parasitic protists. Infection by these organisms is known as malaria. The genus Plasmodium was described in 1885 by Ettore Marchiafava and Angelo Celli. Currently over 200 species of this genus are recognized and new species continue to be described.Of the over 200 known...

.

Geographical distribution

Infections with species of this genus are widespread among insectivorous bats (Microchiroptera) in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. Species in this genus have also been described in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Vectors

Polychromophilus murinus - bat fly (Nycteribia kolenatii)

bat fly (Penicillidia fulvida) Bigot 1889.

Host records

P. adami - least long fingered bat (Miniopterus minor minor)

P. corradetti - greater long fingered bat (Miniopterus inflatus)

P. melanipherus - little cave eptesicus (Eptesicus pumilus), greater wart nosed horseshoe bat (Hipposideros semoni), eastern long eared bat (Nyctophilus bifax

Nyctophilus bifax

The Eastern Long-eared Bat, Nyctophilus bifax, is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family.It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.-References:* Chiroptera Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....

), (Miniopterus blepotis), common bent wing bat (Miniopterus schreibersii), (Vespadelus pumilis)

P. murinus - little bent wing bat (Miniopterus australis), Daubenton's bat (Myotis daubentoni), greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis)

Sundevall's roundleaf bat (Hipposideros caffer)

southeastern myotis (Myotis austroriparius)

Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteini)

Adam's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus adami)

Geoffroy's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus clivosus)

Lander's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus landeri)