Molecular analysis of selected paramphistome isolates from cattle in southern Africa.
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Date
2015-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Helminthology
Abstract
Paramphistomes are parasites of domestic and wild ruminants, the effects of
which in animal health remain underestimated. Very few studies in Africa have
been done using molecular techniques to resolve situations associated with
taxonomical groupings and epidemiology of these parasites. In this study, the
genetic variability of nine representative paramphistome isolates collected from
southern African countries, namely Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and
Zimbabwe, was assessed using both morphological and internal transcribed
spacer 2 (ITS2) rDNA sequence data. Morphological characterization and
identification were carried out using median sagittal sections of the
paramphistomes. DNA of the individual paramphistomes was isolated, the
ITS2 rDNA was amplified, purified and sequenced. The sequences were
submitted to GenBank, which assigned them the following accession numbers:
KP639631, KP639630, KP639632, KP639633, KP639634, KP639635, KP639636,
KP639637 and KP639638. These sequences were used for phylogenetic analysis
using MEGA 6. Morphological characterization revealed three species of
paramphistomes belonging to three different sub-families: one Stephanopharynx
compactus isolate, a member of the Stephanopharyngidae sub-family; one
Carmyerius dollfusi isolate, a member of the Gastrothylacidae sub-family; and
seven Calicophoron microbothrium isolates belonging to the Paramphistomidae
sub-family. ITS2 sequence analysis using BlastN results indicated that this is the
first report of S. compactus (KP639630) and C. dollfusi (KP639636). Phylogenetic
reconstruction of the paramphistome isolates revealed three separate clades
representing the three species. However, the clade with all the C. microbothrium
isolates was the only one that was supported by a higher bootstrap value of 92%,
although there was no differentiation of the isolates according to geographical
locations. The low divergence values on the ITS2 sequences of the
C. microbothrium isolates indicate that ITS rDNA sequences can be used as
a molecular tool to infer knowledge for resolving taxonomic groupings.
Description
Published Article
Keywords
Paramphistomes, Morphology
Citation
Dhlamini, Z. 2016. Molecular analysis of selected paramphistome isolates from cattle in southern Africa.