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Characterization of Fasciola samples from different host species and geographical localities in Spain by sequences of internal transcribed spacers of rDNA

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Abstract

In the present study, 25 samples representing Fasciola (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda: Digenea) from nine host species and 19 geographical locations in Spain were characterized genetically by sequences of the first (ITS-1) and second (ITS-2) internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA). The ITS rDNA was amplified from individual liver flukes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the amplicons were sequenced directly. The lengths of the ITS-1 and ITS-2 sequences were 422 and 362 bp, respectively, for all Spanish liver fluke samples sequenced. Comparison of the ITS sequences of the Spanish Fasciola samples examined in the present study with that of Fasciola hepatica, Fasciola gigantica and the “intermediate Fasciola” revealed that all Spanish Fasciola samples examined represent the single species of F. hepatica, with only slight sequence variation in the ITS-2 (1/362, 0.3%) among the sequenced samples, but the sequence variation was not related to particular host species and/or geographical origins of the samples. The Spanish F. hepatica examined differed from Fasciola from elsewhere by two nucleotides in the ITS-2, which provided genetic marker for the differentiation of Spanish F. hepatica from Fasciola from other geographical localities. These results have implications for studying the population genetic structure of the Spanish F. hepatica and for the diagnosis and control of the disease it causes.

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Acknowledgments

Project support was provided in part by grants from the China National Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists (grant no. 30225033) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Team Project, grant No. 5200638) to XQZ, and a grant from Euphrates University—Syria to SA. Research activities in Spain were partially supported by the Plan Andaluz de Investigación (group RNM-118). The authors would like to thank the kind collaboration of many people, in particular Adolfo Paz Silva (Departamento de Patología Animal Parasitología y Enfermedades Parasitarias, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela), Ramón A. Juste (Sanidad Animal, Instituto Vasco de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario, NEIKER), Margarita Buades (Jefa de Sección de Mataderos, Islas Baleares), Pablo Martín-Atance (Centro de Investigación Agraria de Cuenca), and Santiago Lavín (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona) for providing Fasciola samples. The experiments comply with the current laws of the countries in which the experiments were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s. n., E-23071, Jaén, Spain

    S. Alasaad & J. M. Pérez

  2. College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510642, People’s Republic of China

    S. Alasaad, C. Q. Huang, Q. Y. Li & X. Q. Zhu

  3. Espacio Natural de Sierra Nevada, Carretera Antigua de Sierra Nevada, Km 7.5, E-18071, Pinos Genil, Granada, Spain

    J. E. Granados

  4. Laboratorio de Parasitología Animal, Servicio de Investigación Agraria (SIA), Consejería de Agricultura, C/ Pintor Matías Moreno, E-45002, Toledo, Spain

    C. García-Romero

Authors
  1. S. Alasaad
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  2. C. Q. Huang
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  3. Q. Y. Li
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  4. J. E. Granados
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  5. C. García-Romero
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  6. J. M. Pérez
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  7. X. Q. Zhu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to X. Q. Zhu.

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Alasaad, S., Huang, C.Q., Li, Q.Y. et al. Characterization of Fasciola samples from different host species and geographical localities in Spain by sequences of internal transcribed spacers of rDNA. Parasitol Res 101, 1245–1250 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0628-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0628-2

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