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The endogenous development and pathogenicity of Eimeria anseris (Kotlan, 1932) in domestic goslings

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Abstract

Twenty-one, 25-day-old, artificially reared, coccidia-free goslings (Anser cygnoides var. domestica) were inoculated orally with 0.5 × 104, 1 × 104, or 100 × 104 sporulated oocysts of Eimeria anseris and sacrificed at intervals from 24 to 216 h post-inoculation (HPI). Nine uninfected goslings served as negative controls. Parts of the visceral organs from goslings, including the intestines, kidneys, and liver, were fixed, sectioned, and observed microscopically. The results revealed that two generations of meronts occurred in the life cycle of E. anseris. The first generation of meronts developed at 24–96 HPI and the second generation at 90–128 HPI. Each meront contained 4–10 merozoites. Development of gamonts began at 128 HPI and mature oocysts appeared at 168 HPI. Developmental stages presented mainly in the epithelial cells of crypts and lamina propria in the posterior parts of the jejunum and ileum. Parasites localized mostly in the cytoplasm and occasionally in the nuclei of host cells. Histological lesions were pronounced in the jejunum and ileum. Desquamation and necrosis of the epithelium of intestine and crypts, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and hemorrhage and mucosal edema were associated with aggregates of endogenous stages. The infected goslings mainly showed severe diarrhea, depression, anorexia, and emaciation, suggesting that E. anseris is highly pathogenic in goslings.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31472181) and a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

Authors’ contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: JP, HQ, YB. Performed the experiments: HQ, DD, LL, JJ, LM. Wrote the manuscript: JP, HQ. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Ministry of Education Key Lab for Avian Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225009, People’s Republic of China

    Hongqin Song, Dandan Liu, Jinjun Xu, Lili Wu & Jianping Tao

  2. Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Yabin Dai & Mei Liu

Authors
  1. Hongqin Song
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  2. Dandan Liu
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  3. Jinjun Xu
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  4. Lili Wu
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  5. Yabin Dai
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  6. Mei Liu
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  7. Jianping Tao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianping Tao.

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All animal care and procedures were conducted according to the guidelines for animal use in toxicology. The study protocol was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Song, H., Liu, D., Xu, J. et al. The endogenous development and pathogenicity of Eimeria anseris (Kotlan, 1932) in domestic goslings. Parasitol Res 116, 177–183 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5274-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5274-0

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