Abstract
To date, more than 50 Eimeria spp. have been isolated from marsupials of the family Macropodidae. Although 18 species of Eimeria have been previously detected from multiple animal species belonging to the genus Macropus of the family, limited genetic analyses of the parasites are available, and their pathogenicity remains unclear. Here, we report the isolation of Eimeria spp. from a zoo specimen of red-necked wallaby (Macropodidae; Macropus rufogriseus). Specifically, two distinct types of Eimeria oocysts were recovered, one from the feces before treatment with an anthelmintic and the second from the intestinal contents after death of the animal. The oocysts obtained from the two sources were morphologically identified as E. hestermani and E. prionotemni, respectively. We successfully determined partial gene sequences from the two isolates, including segments of the 18S rRNA genes, and for the first time have used phylogenetic analyses of these sequences to assign the species to distinct clades. In combination with further genetic data, these results are expected to help elucidate the pathogenicity and host ranges of Eimeria spp. within the respective family and genus.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. M. Kobayashi, Ms. M. Shimada, Mr. Y. Abeto, and Mr. H. Itoh (National Institute of Animal Health, Japan) for histopathological assistance and Mrs. Rika Sekiguchi and Mrs. Noriko Asama for help in the fecal and molecular examinations.
Funding
This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (JSPS) (Grant nos. 16H05803 and 16 K08025 to M.M.).
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Ekawasti, F., Kitagawa, K., Domae, H. et al. Molecular identification of Eimeria hestermani and Eimeria prionotemni from a red-necked wallaby (Macropodidae; Macropus rufogriseus) in Japan. Parasitol Res 119, 1271–1279 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06618-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06618-2