Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, University for Development Studies, P. O. Box TL 1882, Tamale, Ghana.
BMC Vet Res. 2024 Sep 30;20(1):441. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04300-8.
The common cat tapeworm, Hydatigera taeniaeformis, is widely distributed across many regions of the world but its global genetic diversity, ecology, and other biological features are not fully understood. The predator-prey relationship of felids and rodents sustains the transmission in both sylvatic and synanthropic or urban settings. This study was carried out in three urban market centres in Tamale, Ghana to determine the prevalence of H. taeniaeformis infection in urban rats and characterise the local population genetics using the mitochondrial nad1 gene sequences.
From January to May 2023, rats were captured and euthanized to identity and isolate the H. taeniaeformis metacestodes. The full mitochondrial nad1 gene was amplified, sequenced and used to characterise the cestode population.
In total 64/80 rats from the three market centres were found naturally infected with metacestodes of H. taeniaeformis. Averagely, infected rats harboured two cysts with one exceptional case of 25 cysts in one liver. Each cyst harboured one metacestode. The DNA sequences revealed four haplotypes in a star-like distribution network across the three market centres. All four haplotypes were found to be unique, clustered with H. taeniaeformis sensu stricto (s.s.) global isolates and had only marginal variation among themselves.
This is the first account of the genetic variability within H. taeniaeformis in Ghana and would contribute to ongoing and future studies on African regional biogeographic distribution of the common cat tapeworm.
常见的猫带绦虫，Hydatigera taeniaeformis，广泛分布于世界许多地区，但它的全球遗传多样性、生态学和其他生物学特征尚未完全了解。猫科动物和啮齿动物的捕食者-猎物关系维持了森林和城市环境中的传播。本研究在加纳塔马利的三个城市市场中心进行，以确定城市大鼠中 H. taeniaeformis 感染的流行率，并使用线粒体 nad1 基因序列对当地种群遗传学进行特征描述。
2023 年 1 月至 5 月，捕获并安乐死大鼠以鉴定和分离 H. taeniaeformis 包囊蚴。扩增、测序并使用完整的线粒体 nad1 基因来描述绦虫种群。
在三个市场中心的 80 只大鼠中，共有 64 只被发现自然感染了 H. taeniaeformis 的包囊蚴。平均而言，感染的大鼠寄生有两个囊，一个例外情况是一只肝中有 25 个囊。每个囊内寄生有一个包囊蚴。DNA 序列显示在三个市场中心呈星形分布网络的四个单倍型。所有四个单倍型都被发现与 H. taeniaeformis s.s. 全球分离株聚集在一起，彼此之间只有微小的差异。
这是加纳 H. taeniaeformis 内遗传变异的首次报道，将有助于正在进行和未来关于非洲地区常见猫带绦虫生物地理分布的研究。
