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Gazzonis AL, Gjerde B, Villa L, Minazzi S, Zanzani SA, Riccaboni P, Sironi G, Manfredi MT. Prevalence and molecular characterisation of Sarcocystis miescheriana and Sarcocystis suihominis in wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Italy. Parasitol Res 2019; 118:1271-1287. [PMID: 30788573 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-019-06249-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
A sample of the diaphragm was collected from each of 100 wild boars legally hunted in the Val Grande National Park in north-western Italy and examined for the presence of Sarcocystis infection by histological and molecular methods. In histological sections, thick-walled sarcocysts consistent with those of Sarcocystis miescheriana were detected in 32 wild boars. Genomic DNA extracted from diaphragm samples was initially subjected to PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region, and 97 wild boars were found to harbour a Sarcocystis infection at this screening. Selected DNA samples were then subjected to PCR amplification and sequencing of the ITS1 region and the 18S and 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes of the nuclear ribosomal DNA unit, while all positive samples were subjected to PCR amplification of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene. S. miescheriana was identified in 97 wild boars (97%), while the zoonotic Sarcocystis suihominis was identified in one wild boar (1%), which also harboured S. miescheriana. Intra-specific sequence variation was found in all four DNA regions of S. miescheriana examined and in the 18S rRNA gene and ITS1 region of S. suihominis. The partial cox1 gene was amplified and sequenced from 72 isolates of S. miescheriana, yielding 43 haplotypes with pairwise sequence identities of 97.6-99.9%. These haplotypes were 79.1-79.8% identical with the cox1 sequence of S. suihominis. Phylogeny based on cox1 sequences placed S. miescheriana and S. suihominis as sister species within a clade comprising mainly Sarcocystis spp. of ruminants with felids as known or presumed definitive hosts. The same was true for the phylogeny based on 18S rRNA gene sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Libera Gazzonis
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Bjørn Gjerde
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P. O. Box 369, Sentrum, 0102, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Luca Villa
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Stefano Minazzi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Sergio Aurelio Zanzani
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Pietro Riccaboni
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Sironi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Teresa Manfredi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy
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Imre K, Sala C, Morar A, Imre M, Ciontu C, Chisăliță I, Dudu A, Matei M, Dărăbuș G. Occurrence and first molecular characterization of Sarcocystis spp. in wild boars (Sus scrofa) and domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) in Romania: Public health significance of the isolates. Acta Trop 2017; 167:191-195. [PMID: 28041999 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2016.12.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2016] [Revised: 11/08/2016] [Accepted: 12/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Domestic and wild pigs, as intermediate hosts, can harbor tissue cysts of three Sarcocystis species namely S. miescheriana, S. suihominis and S. porcifelis. Out of them, S. suihominis is zoonotic. Romania is a country with high consumption of raw and/or undercooked traditional pork products. This fact may greatly favor the acquiring of the zoonotic Sarcocystis infections by humans, as definitive host. Based on this consideration and in order to investigate the occurrence and public health significance of Sarcocystis spp. in two western counties (Caraş-Severin and Timiş) of Romania, a total of 165 heart samples from hunted wild boars (Sus scrofa, n=101) and home slaughtered domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus, n=64) were screened using microscopic fresh examination and molecular methods. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of sarcocysts in 60.4% of wild boars, and 23.4% of domestic pigs. Genetic characterization of isolates through the PCR-RFLP procedure, targeting the 18S rRNA gene, was successfully achieved for all microscopically positive samples, indicating the presence of a single species, S. miescheriana, in both hosts. The identity of 13 selected S. miescheriana isolates was also confirmed through sequencing. The tested hosts older than 27 months were found to be significantly higher infected (p<0.05) with Sarcocystis than the 6 to ≤27months age group. Although the human infective S. suihominis has not been registered, for a more reliable epidemiological picture, further molecular studies enrolling a larger number of animals and diagnosis on human intestinal Sarcocystis infections are still necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kálmán Imre
- Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania
| | - Claudia Sala
- Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania
| | - Adriana Morar
- Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania
| | - Mirela Imre
- Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Romania.
| | - Cătălin Ciontu
- National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry "Marin Drăcea", Romania
| | - Ion Chisăliță
- National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry "Marin Drăcea", Romania; Department of Forestry, Faculty of Horticulture and Forestry, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Romania
| | - Andreea Dudu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei no. 91-95, 050095 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Marius Matei
- Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania
| | - Gheorghe Dărăbuș
- Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Romania
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Xiang Z, Rosenthal BM, He Y, Wang W, Wang H, Song J, Shen P, Li M, Yang Z. Sarcocystis tupaia, sp. nov., a new parasite species employing treeshrews (Tupaiidae, Tupaia belangeri chinensis) as natural intermediate hosts. Parasitol Int 2010; 59:128-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2009.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2009] [Revised: 12/10/2009] [Accepted: 12/10/2009] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Dahlgren SS, Gjerde B, Skirnisson K, Gudmundsdottir B. Morphological and molecular identification of three species of Sarcocystis in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in Iceland. Vet Parasitol 2007; 149:191-8. [PMID: 17904291 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2007.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2007] [Revised: 07/21/2007] [Accepted: 08/01/2007] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Six Sarcocystis species have previously been described from reindeer in Norway based on sarcocyst morphology and DNA sequencing. The aim of this study was to determine whether reindeer in Iceland, which descend from reindeer imported from Norway in 1787, also were infected with Sarcocystis, and to identify and genetically characterise any species present. Muscle tissue from the heart, diaphragm and/or oesophagus was collected from 36 reindeer in Iceland. Pieces of all tissue samples were examined histologically. Frozen/thawed samples of cardiac muscle, oesophagus and/or diaphragm from 11 of the 36 reindeer were also examined under a stereoscopic microscope and sarcocysts present were identified to species either in situ or under a light microscope. Two cysts of each species, originating from two different reindeer were randomly selected for DNA analyses. The complete ssu rRNA gene was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. In addition, two sarcocysts that could not be classified by microscopic examination were selected for partial ssu rRNA gene sequence analysis. By histology, sarcocysts were found in the diaphragm and/or oesophagus of 8 of 36 (22.2%) animals. By examination of fresh tissue, sarcocysts of Sarcocystis rangi, S. tarandivulpes and S. hardangeri were found in the oesophagus of seven of nine (77.8%) animals, suggesting a high prevalence of Sarcocystis in the Icelandic reindeer population. Cyst morphology and the ssu rRNA gene sequence of each of the three species were identical to isolates of the same species from Norwegian reindeer. DNA sequencing was useful in order to identify cysts with an ambiguous morphology. This is the first record of these Sarcocystis species in reindeer outside Norway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stina S Dahlgren
- Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Section of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, PO Box 8146 Dep., 0033 Oslo, Norway.
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