Abstract
This study aimed to determine the nPCR-RFLP genotypes of newly obtained T. gondii isolates from human congenital toxoplasmosis cases in Argentina and to determine their allelic profiles for virulence genes ROP18/ROP5. In addition, the ROP18/ROP5 profiles were also determined for previously characterized T. gondii samples. Isolation from congenital toxoplasmosis cases was carried out in mouse bioassay from two placentas (P1 and P2). Genotyping for the new human isolates was performed by nPCR-RFLP using 10 markers. The samples analyzed for ROP18/ROP5 included the two newly obtained isolates (from the congenital toxoplasmosis cases) and nine previously genotyped T. gondii DNA samples from humans and chickens. The results for P1 and P2 named as TgHm18-02Arg and TgHm19-01Arg showed ToxoDB genotypes #14 (non-archetypal) and #2 (clonal type III), respectively. Non-archetypal #14 has been isolated from human cases before in Argentina. However, this is the first report of T. gondii clonal type III in a human case in the country. The ROP18/ROP5 combination was detected in nine samples: 3/3 (n = 1), 4/3 (n = 4), 4/4 (n = 3), and 3–4/4 (n = 1). Notably, the 4/4 profile was identified for the first time and exclusively in T. gondii samples from Misiones province (which borders southern Brazil). Further studies are required to corroborate the regionalization of the ROP18/ROP5 profiles in Argentina.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Chunlei Su for providing the T. gondii DNA of reference strains and for his advice in the standardization process of the ROP18/ROP5 nPCR-RFLP technique. Additionally, we would like to thank Mr. Isidoro Ercoli and Mrs. Selva Peñaloza for their technical assistance.
Funding
This work was partially supported by the Fund for Scientific and Technological Research (FONCyT) through PICT 2012–0355 and PICT 2016–3117; La Plata National University I + D project V250 and young researchers grant 1685/18. Mariana Bernstein was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) to fulfill this study.
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M. B.: Investigation; Writing—original draft; Writing—review & editing. M. R.: Resources. V. S.: Resources. M. M.: Resources. M. L. G.: Investigation. E. H.: Formal analysis. A. D.: Investigation. J. M. U.: Funding acquisition; Writing—review & editing. M C. V.: Funding acquisition. G. M.: Conceptualization; Writing—review & editing. L. P.: Conceptualization; Supervision; Writing—review & editing.
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Bernstein, M., Rudzinski, M., Schneider, V. et al. Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii from human and chicken isolates from Argentina. Parasitol Res 123, 129 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-024-08142-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-024-08142-z