Key Laboratory for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Public Health Security of the XPCC, School of Medicine, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832002, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
Parasit Vectors. 2024 Jun 6;17(1):249. doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06326-1.
Multiple species of the genera Cytauxzoon and Hepatozoon can infect wild felines, but the diversity of these and other apicomplexan parasites in Eurasian lynx is scarcely known. The aim of this study was to detect Cytauxzoon and Hepatozoon species with molecular methods in Eurasian lynxes and their ticks in northwestern China.
DNA was extracted from the heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney samples of three Eurasian lynxes as well as from their five ixodid ticks. These DNA samples were screened with polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) for Cytauxzoon with the partial cytochrome b gene (CytB), cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI), and small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (18S rRNA), and Hepatozoon with three different fragments of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (18S rRNA). PCR products were sequenced, aligned, and phylogenetically analyzed.
One adult female of Eurasian lynx (#1, adult female) was co-infected with Cytauxzoon manul and Hepatozoon felis genotype I, while an adult male lynx (#2) was infected with C. manul. Interestingly, H. felis genotype I was both detected in a male cub (#3) and two out of five infesting Hyalomma asiaticum ticks.
For the first time, Cytauxzoon manul is reported here from Eurasian lynx. In addition, H. felis has not been known to occur in this host species in China and Central Asia. Thus, the findings of this study extend our knowledge on the geographical distribution and host range of these haemoprotozoan parasites. Moreover, this is also the first evidence of C. manul and H. felis co-infection in Eurasian lynx.
多种细胞球虫属和肝球虫属的物种可以感染野生猫科动物，但欧亚猞猁中这些和其他顶复门寄生虫的多样性知之甚少。本研究的目的是使用分子方法检测欧亚猞猁及其在中国西北地区的蜱中的细胞球虫属和肝球虫属物种。
从三只欧亚猞猁的心脏、肝脏、脾脏、肺和肾脏样本以及它们的五只硬蜱样本中提取 DNA。这些 DNA 样本用聚合酶链反应 (PCR) 进行细胞球虫属的部分细胞色素 b 基因 (CytB)、细胞色素 c 氧化酶亚基 I 基因 (COI) 和小亚基核糖体 RNA 基因 (18S rRNA) 以及肝球虫属的三个不同小亚基核糖体 RNA 基因 (18S rRNA) 片段进行筛选。PCR 产物进行测序、比对和系统发育分析。
一只成年雌性欧亚猞猁 (#1，成年雌性) 同时感染细胞球虫 Manul 和肝球虫 felis 基因型 I，而一只成年雄性猞猁 (#2) 感染了细胞球虫 Manul。有趣的是，在一只雄性幼崽 (#3) 和五只寄生的亚洲璃眼蜱中的两只中都检测到了 H. felis 基因型 I。
这是首次从欧亚猞猁中报告细胞球虫属 Manul。此外，在中国和中亚，尚未发现 H. felis 发生在这种宿主物种中。因此，本研究的结果扩展了我们对这些血液原生动物寄生虫地理分布和宿主范围的认识。此外，这也是细胞球虫属 Manul 和 H. felis 在欧亚猞猁中共同感染的首次证据。
