Abstract
Cryptosporidium spp. are diarrheagenic intestinal parasites with multiple hosts worldwide. A total of 1252 fresh fecal samples of sheep were collected from 10 large-scale farms in southern Xinjiang. Based on the small subunit ribosomal (SSU rRNA) gene of Cryptosporidium, 100 Cryptosporidium-positive samples (8.0%, 100/1252) were detected by PCR. Nine out of 10 farms were positive for Cryptosporidium, with the highest infection rate being 18.4% (23/125) on farm 9 in Qira. The infection rates of Cryptosporidium in pre-weaned lambs, weaned lambs, fattening sheep, and adult sheep were 20.3% (61/301), 10.3% (34/329), 0.9% (3/327), and 0.7% (2/295), respectively. Three Cryptosporidium species were identified, namely, C. xiaoi (n = 61), C. parvum (n = 22), and C. ubiquitum (n = 17). Of them, C. xiaoi was detected on all positive farms and in different age groups of sheep. The subtypes of C. parvum and C. ubiquitum were identified by PCR at the 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene. Two C. parvum subtypes were identified: IIdA19G1 (n = 21) and IIdA15G1 (n = 1). One C. ubiquitum subtype was identified with XIIa (n = 17). These results indicated the common transmission and genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium in sheep in southern Xinjiang, and further investigations are needed on the zoonotic potential of C. parvum and C. ubiquitum in this region.
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Data availability
The nucleotide sequences reported in this study have been deposited in the GenBank database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information under accession numbers OR361825-OR361831.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Program for Young and Middle-aged Leading Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Xinjiang Production & Construction Group (2018CB034) and the Open Project Fund State Key Laboratory of Sheep Genetic Improvement and Healthy Production (MYSKLKF202004).
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Zhengrong Wang, Xia Peng, Xinwen Bo and Bowen Zhang collected the faecal samples. Zhengrong Wang, Yanyan Zhang, Fuchang Yu and Aiyun Zhao carried out the PCR assays and sequence analyses. Zhenjie Zhang and Meng Qi designed the study and drafted the current manuscript.
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Wang, Z., Peng, X., Bo, X. et al. Molecular evaluation of Cryptosporidium spp. in sheep in southern Xinjiang, China. Parasitol Res 122, 2989–2997 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07988-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07988-z