Molecular characterization and identification of Blastocystis and its subtypes from raccoon (Procyon lotor) in north of Iran

Mohammad Rahimi, Hanieh; Nemati, Sara; Mirjalali, Hamed; Sharifdini, Meysam; Zali, Mohammad Reza

doi:10.1007/s00436-020-06770-9

Protozoology - Short Communication
Published: 24 June 2020

Molecular characterization and identification of Blastocystis and its subtypes from raccoon (Procyon lotor) in north of Iran

Hanieh Mohammad Rahimi¹^na1,
Sara Nemati¹^na1,
Hamed Mirjalali ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2568-9022¹,
Meysam Sharifdini² &
Mohammad Reza Zali³

Parasitology Research volume 119, pages 2741–2745 (2020)Cite this article

228 Accesses
5 Citations
1 Altmetric
Metrics details

Abstract

Blastocystis is a zoonotic protozoan parasite frequently identified in the intestinal tract of humans and a vast variety of animals, worldwide. Here, we assessed the prevalence of Blastocystis and its subtypes in stool samples of raccoons. Stool samples from 30 raccoons were collected. Total DNA was extracted, and the barcoding region of the small subunit ribosomal rRNA (SSU rRNA) gene was amplified and sequenced. Specific fragment for Blastocystis was successfully amplified in five samples (16.66%). Sequencing analysis revealed ST1, ST2, and ST3 among 1, 2, and 2 Blastocystis-positive samples. Our results documented the presence of Blastocystis subtypes 1–3 in raccoons. Subtype 1 showed higher similarity to the human isolates of Blastocystis. However, it seems that raccoons may emerge as reservoirs for Blastocystis and may be linked to zoonotic transmission of the protist.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

Alfellani MA, Taner-Mulla D, Jacob AS, Imeede CA, Yoshikawa H, Stensvold CR, Clark CG (2013) Genetic diversity of Blastocystis in livestock and zoo animals. Protist 164(4):497–509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2013.05.003
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Angelici MC, Nardis C, Scarpelli R, Ade P (2018) Blastocystis hominis transmission by non-potable water: a case report in Italy. New Microbiol 41(2):173–177
Beltrán-Beck B, García FJ, Gortázar C (2012) Raccoons in Europe: disease hazards due to the establishment of an invasive species. Eur J Wildl Res 58(1):5–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-011-0600-4
Article Google Scholar
Calero-Bernal R et al (2019) Blastocystis sp. subtype diversity in wild carnivore species from Spain. J Eukaryot Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12772
El Safadi D et al (2013) Molecular epidemiology of Blastocystis in Lebanon and correlation between subtype 1 and gastrointestinal symptoms. Am J Trop Med Hyg 88(6):1203–1206. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.12-0777
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Farashi A, Kaboli M, Karami M (2013) Predicting range expansion of invasive raccoons in northern Iran using ENFA model at two different scales. Ecol Inf 15:96–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2013.01.001
Article Google Scholar
Greige S et al (2018) Prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis sp. isolates from poultry in Lebanon and evidence of zoonotic potential. Parasit Vectors 11(1):389. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-018-2975-5
CAS Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Hameed DM, Hassanin OM, Zuel-Fakkar NM (2011) Association of Blastocystis hominis genetic subtypes with urticaria. Parasitol Res 108(3):553–560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-2097-2
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Ikeda T, Asano M, Matoba Y, Abe G (2004) Present status of invasive alien raccoon and its impact in Japan. Glob Environ Res:125–131
Jalallou N, Iravani S, Rezaeian M, Alinaghizade A, Mirjalali H (2017) Subtypes distribution and frequency of Blastocystis sp. isolated from diarrheic and non-diarrheic patients. Iran J Parasitol 12(1):63–68
PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Javanmard E, Rahimi HM, Niyyati M, Aghdaei HA, Sharifdini M, Mirjalali H, Zali MR, Karanis P (2019) Molecular analysis of Blastocystis sp. and its subtypes from treated wastewater routinely used for irrigation of vegetable farmlands in Iran. J Water Health 17(5):837–844. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2019.045
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Javanmard E, Nemati S, Sharifdini M, Rostami A, Mirjalali H, Zali MR (2020) The first report and molecular analysis of Enterocytozoon bieneusi from raccoon (Procyon lotor) in north of Iran. J Eukaryot Microbiol 67:359–368. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12786
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Li J, Karim MR, Li D, Rahaman Sumon SMM, Siddiki SHMF, Rume FI, Sun R, Jia Y, Zhang L (2019) Molecular characterization of Blastocystis sp. in captive wildlife in Bangladesh national zoo: non-human primates with high prevalence and zoonotic significance. Int J Parasitol Parasite Wildl 10:314–320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.11.003
Article Google Scholar
Martinez-Hernandez F, Martinez-Ibarra JA, Lopez-Escamilla E, Villanueva-Garcia C, Muñoz-Garcia CI, Rendon-Franco E, Maravilla P, Villalobos G (2020) Molecular genotyping of Blastocystis spp. in wild mammals from Mexico. Parasitol Res 119(1):97–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06530-4
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Oliveira-Arbex AP, David ÉB, Tenório MS, Cicchi PJP, Patti M, Coradi ST, Lucheis SB, Jim J, Guimarães S (2019) Diversity of Blastocystis subtypes in wild mammals from a zoo and two conservation units in southeastern Brazil. Infect Genet Evol 78:104053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2019.104053
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Popiolek M, Szczesna-Staskiewicz J, Bartoszewicz M, Okarma H, Smalec B, Zalewski A (2011) Helminth parasites of an introduced invasive carnivore species, the raccoon ( Procyon lotor L.), from the Warta Mouth National Park (Poland). J Parasitol 97(2):357–360. https://doi.org/10.1645/ge-2525.1
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Rezaei Riabi T et al (2017) Study of prevalence, distribution and clinical significance of Blastocystis isolated from two medical centers in Iran. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench 10(Suppl1):S102–S107
PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Rezaei Riabi T, Mirjalali H, Haghighi A, Rostami Nejad M, Pourhoseingholi MA, Poirier P, Delbac F, Wawrzyniak I, Zali MR (2018) Genetic diversity analysis of Blastocystis subtypes from both symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects using a barcoding region from the 18S rRNA gene. Infect Genet Evol 61:119–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2018.03.026
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Scicluna SM, Tawari B, Clark CG (2006) DNA barcoding of Blastocystis. Protist 157(1):77–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2005.12.001
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Stensvold CR (2013) Blastocystis: genetic diversity and molecular methods for diagnosis and epidemiology. Trop Parasitol 3(1):26–34. https://doi.org/10.4103/2229-5070.113896
Stensvold CR, Clark CG (2020) Pre-empting Pandora’s box: Blastocystis subtypes revisited. Trends Parasitol 36:229–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2019.12.009
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Stensvold CR, Alfellani MA, Nørskov-Lauritsen S, Prip K, Victory EL, Maddox C, Nielsen HV, Clark CG (2009) Subtype distribution of Blastocystis isolates from synanthropic and zoo animals and identification of a new subtype. Int J Parasitol 39(4):473–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.07.006
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Taghipour A, Javanmard E, Mirjalali H, Haghighi A, Tabarsi P, Sohrabi MR, Zali MR (2019) Blastocystis subtype 1 (allele 4); predominant subtype among tuberculosis patients in Iran. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 65:201–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cimid.2019.06.005
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Wang J, Gong B, Yang F, Zhang W, Zheng Y, Liu A (2018) Subtype distribution and genetic characterizations of Blastocystis in pigs, cattle, sheep and goats in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province. Infect Genet Evol 57:171–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2017.11.026
Yoshikawa H, Koyama Y, Tsuchiya E, Takami K (2016) Blastocystis phylogeny among various isolates from humans to insects. Parasitol Int 65(6 Pt B):750–759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parint.2016.04.004
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all members of the Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases Research Center in the Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, and the Microbiology department of Guilan university of Medical Sciences for their supports.

Author information

Hanieh Mohammad Rahimi and Sara Nemati contributed equally to this work.

Affiliations

Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hanieh Mohammad Rahimi, Sara Nemati & Hamed Mirjalali
Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Meysam Sharifdini
Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Reza Zali

Authors

Hanieh Mohammad Rahimi
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Sara Nemati
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Hamed Mirjalali
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Meysam Sharifdini
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Mohammad Reza Zali
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: HM. Performed the experiments: HMR SN. Analyzed the data: HM SN. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools/positive samples: MS MRZ. Wrote the paper: HM SN. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hamed Mirjalali or Meysam Sharifdini.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The protocol of this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Iran (Ref. No. IR.GUMS.REC.1394.185).

Informed consent

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Section Editor: Kevin S.W. Tan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mohammad Rahimi, H., Nemati, S., Mirjalali, H. et al. Molecular characterization and identification of Blastocystis and its subtypes from raccoon (Procyon lotor) in north of Iran. Parasitol Res 119, 2741–2745 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06770-9

Download citation

Received: 04 February 2020
Accepted: 10 June 2020
Published: 24 June 2020
Issue Date: August 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06770-9

Keywords

Raccoon
Blastocystis
Subtyping
Zoonotic transmission