Moustafa Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed, Shimozuru Michito, Mohamed Wessam, Taylor Kyle Rueben, Nakao Ryo, Sashika Mariko, Tsubota Toshio
Laboratory of Wildlife Biology and Medicine, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, North 18 West 9, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0818, Japan.
Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
Parasitol Res. 2017 Aug;116(8):2321-2325. doi: 10.1007/s00436-017-5505-z. Epub 2017 May 19.
Sarcocystis and Hepatozoon species are protozoan parasites that are frequently detected in domestic and wild animals. Rodents are considered common intermediate and paratenic hosts for several Sarcocystis and Hepatozoon species. Here, blood DNA samples from a total of six rodents, including one Myodes rutilus, one Myodes rufocanus, and four Apodemus speciosus, collected from Hokkaido, Japan, were shown by conventional PCR of the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene to contain Sarcocystis and Hepatozoon DNA. Sequencing of the DNA detected one Sarcocystis sp. in the M. rufocanus sample and two different Hepatozoon spp. in the M. rutilus and A. speciosus samples. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the detected Sarcocystis sp. sequence grouped with GenBank Sarcocystis sequences from rodents, snakes, and raccoons from Japan and China. The 18S rRNA partial gene sequences of both detected Hepatozoon spp. clustered with GenBank Hepatozoon sequences from snakes, geckos and voles in Europe, Africa, and Asia. This study provides evidence that wild rodents have a role in the maintenance of Sarcocystis and Hepatozoon species on the island of Hokkaido.
肉孢子虫属和肝簇虫属是原生动物寄生虫，在家畜和野生动物中经常被检测到。啮齿动物被认为是几种肉孢子虫属和肝簇虫属常见的中间宿主和转续宿主。在此，通过对18S核糖体RNA（rRNA）基因进行常规PCR检测发现，从日本北海道采集的总共6只啮齿动物的血液DNA样本（包括1只棕背䶄、1只红背䶄和4只大林姬鼠）中含有肉孢子虫属和肝簇虫属的DNA。对检测到的DNA进行测序，在红背䶄样本中发现了一种肉孢子虫，在棕背䶄和大林姬鼠样本中发现了两种不同的肝簇虫。系统发育分析表明，检测到的肉孢子虫属序列与来自日本和中国的啮齿动物、蛇和浣熊的GenBank肉孢子虫序列归为一类。检测到的两种肝簇虫属的18S rRNA部分基因序列与来自欧洲、非洲和亚洲的蛇、壁虎和田鼠的GenBank肝簇虫序列聚类。本研究提供了证据，证明野生啮齿动物在北海道岛上肉孢子虫属和肝簇虫属的维持中发挥了作用。
