Objectif
Our ultimate goal in proposed study is to model the degree to which malaria and other diseases have invaded the southern Pacific Islands and an assessment of future risk to the remote Melanesian avifauna based on host colonization histories and current genetic diversity. Lack of epidemiological surveys makes it difficult to understand the wider distribution of the parasites and how it has been transmitted among islands.
Members of the silvereye complex (Zosterops lateralis) provide a unique opportunity to study these questions. The Zosteropidae family contains more successful island colonizers than any other passerine group and in the southwestern Pacific members of the silvereye species complex have repeatedly invaded islands from the Australian mainland. The sequence and dates of colonization of islands have been historically documented and information in general dynamics of the population is also available. Because of this exceptional colonizing ability and recent, and ongoing, detailed study of the population genetics of these populations, this group provides an ideal candidate to explore the pattern of host-parasite co-evolution on the South Pacific Island system.
Our preliminary analysis of the silvereye populations from Australia mainland and four recently colonized islands shows 40% prevalence with 8 unique lineages of the malaria parasites shared between different island populations. We will expand this study to other Melanesian islands (Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia) in collaboration with research into population genetic history of the bird populations on these islands, by Drs. Ian Owen and Sonya Clegg, Imperial College London, UK. These ongoing studies (funded 2005-8) provide an invaluable complement to the proposed work, as they will reveal the population history of the host populations.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Appel à propositions
FP6-2005-MOBILITY-7
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