Vet World   Vol.18   October-2025  Article - 26 

Morphological and molecular characterization of Sarcocystis cooperii n. sp. and related Sarcocystis species in three Colombian avian hosts

Background and Aim: Apicomplexan parasites of the genus Sarcocystis exhibit complex two-host life cycles involving birds as both intermediate hosts (IH) and definitive hosts (DH). Despite Colombia’s exceptional avian diversity, knowledge of Sarcocystis species in its wild birds remains limited. This study aimed to characterize the morphology and genetic identity of Sarcocystis species infecting three Colombian birds, the Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus), American black vulture (Coragyps atratus), and Andean condor (Vultur gryphus).

Materials and Methods: Muscle samples from the three species were examined histologically using hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid–Schiff, and toluidine blue staining. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was performed on P. sulphuratus samples to assess ultrastructural features. DNA was extracted and subjected to polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of 18S ribosomal RNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1, and internal transcribed spacer 1 region. Sequences were compared to GenBank data, and phylogenetic analysis was performed using the Maximum Likelihood method.

Results: Two Sarcocystis species were identified. A novel species, Sarcocystis cooperii n. sp., was described from the Great Kiskadee, representing the first record of this species in South America. TEM revealed thin-walled (<1 μm), flat cysts with knob-like blebs corresponding to type 1a morphology. Molecular data showed 99.9% similarity with Sarcocystis sp. ex Accipiter cooperii, confirming its identity as S. cooperii n. sp., with the Cooper’s hawk acting as the putative DH. The Sarcocystis sp. detected in C. atratus and V. gryphus was genetically identical to isolates from Brazilian birds and closely related to S. lari, indicating a shared lineage among scavenging Cathartiformes.

Conclusion: This study expands current knowledge of avian Sarcocystis diversity in the Neotropics, documenting S. coo­perii n. sp. in P. sulphuratus and the first record of Sarcocystis sp. in two Cathartiformes species in Colombia. These find­ings underscore the ecological importance of synanthropic and scavenging birds in Sarcocystis transmission dynamics and highlight the need for further research on host–parasite relationships and potential conservation implications for endemic avifauna.

Keywords: avian parasitology, Colombia, Coragyps atratus, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1, first internal transcribed spacer, phylogeny, Pitangus sulphuratus, Sarcocystis cooperii n. sp., Vultur gryphus.

---

How to cite this article: Llano HB, Marín-Zapata MM, Úsuga-Monroy C, and Duque-Arias S (2025) Morphological and molecular characterization of Sarcocystis cooperii n. sp. and related Sarcocystis species in three Colombian avian hosts, Veterinary World, 18(10): 3255–3267.

Received: 25-05-2025   Accepted: 06-10-2025   Published online: 31-10-2025

Corresponding author: Horwald Bedoya Llano    E-mail: horwald.bedoya@uniremington.edu.co

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.3255-3267

Copyright: Llano, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.