Abstract
Genus Mesocestoides is a representative of the small cyclophyllidean family Mesocestoididae that is found parasitizing the small intestine of carnivores. The life cycle of cestodes from this genus is complex and requires two intermediate hosts. Cysticercoids are produced in the first intermediate host (oribatid mites), which when eaten by the second intermediate host (mainly rodents, but also other mammalian species, birds, reptiles, or amphibians) form tetrathyridia in the body cavity. Because of the rich history of nomenclatural evaluation of Mesocestoididae, the taxonomic status within the genus Mesocestoides is still unclear. Additional problem constitute the difficulty or even the impossibility in the determination of tetrathyridia based on morphological features. Thus, the aim of our study was to identify a molecular characteristic of the isolates of Mesocestoides from the second intermediate hosts (rodents) based on nuclear and mitochondrial ribosomal DNA data. We choose to analyze metacestodes isolated from two species of rodents (Apodemus agrarius and Myodes glarolus) from different sites. As a result of amplification of 18S rDNA, we obtained partial sequences from four isolates ranging from 1,116 to 1,162 bp. In relation to mitochondrial sequence, 354 bp product of 12S rDNA was obtained from one isolate. The neighbor joining and maximum parsimony trees were constructed in order to examine the phylogenetic relationship within Mesocestoides spp. occurring in rodents from central Europe. The results of our research on the larval stages from rodents, living in a periphery of urban agglomeration as well as in an area of reserve protection, confirm the data of more frequently occurring Mesocestoides litteratus.
References
Al-Sabi MNS, Kapel CMO (2011) Multiplex PCR identification of Taenia spp. in rodents and carnivores. Parasitol Res. doi:10.1007/s00436-011-2373-9
Andras P, Peter T (2002) Data on worm infestation of domestic cats (Felis catus) in Hungarian hunting areas. Magy Allatorvosok 124:26–30
Bajer A, Behnke JM, Pawelczyk A, Kulis K, Sereda MJ, Sinski E (2005) Medium-term temporal stability of the helminth component community structure in bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) from the Mazury Lake District region of Poland. Parasitology 130:213–228
Behnke JM, Barnard CJ, Bajer A, Bray D, Dinmore J, Franke K et al (2001) Variation in the helminth community structure in bank voles (Clethriomomys glareolus) from three comparable localities in the Mazury Lake District region of Poland. Parasitology 123:401–414
Behnke JM, Bajer A, Harris PD, Newington L, Pidgeon E, Rowlands G et al (2008) Temporal and between-site variation in helminth communities of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from N.E. Poland. 1. Regional fauna and component community levels. Parasitology 135:985–997
Chertkova AN, Kosupko GA (1978) The suborder Mesocestoidata Skryabin, 1940. In: Ryzhikov KM (ed) Principles of cestodology. Nauka, Moscow, pp 118–229 (In Russian)
Conn DB, Galán-Puchades MT, Fuentes MV (2010) Interactions between anomalous excretory and tegumental epithelia in aberrant Mesocestoides tetrathyridia from Apodemus sylvaticus in Spain. Parasitol Res 106:1109–1115
Crosbie PR, Nadler SA, Platzer EG, Kerner C, Mariaux J, Boyce WM (2000) Molecular systematic of Mesocestoides spp. (Cestoda: Mesocestoididae) from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and coyotes (Canis latrans). J Parasitol 86:350–357
Foronda P, Pérez Rivero A, Santana Morales MA, Kabdur A, González AC, Quispe Ricalde MA et al (2007) First larval record of Mesocestoides in carnivora of Tenerife (Canary Islands). J Parasitol 93:138–142
Hrčkova G, Miterpáková M, O’Connor A, Snábel V, Olson PD (2011) Molecular and morphological circumscription of Mesocestoides tapeworms from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in central Europe. Parasitology 138:638–647
Ishiwata K, Shinohara A, Yagi K, Horii Y, Tsuchiya K, Nawa Y (2004) Identification of tissue-embedded ascarid larvae by ribosomal DNA sequencing. Parasitol Res 92(1):50–52
Krone O, Guminsky O, Meinig H, Hermann M, Trinzen M, Wibbelt G (2008) Endoparasite spectrum of wild cats (Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777) and domestic cats (Felis catus L.) from the Eifel, Pfalz region and Saarland, Germany. Eur J Wildl Res 54:95–100
Literak I, Olson PD, Georgiev BB, Spakulova M (2004) First record of metacestodes of Mesocestoides sp. in the common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) in Europe, with an 18S rDNA characterization of the isolate. Folia Parasitol 51:45–49
Literak I, Tenora F, Letkova V, Goldova M, Torres J, Olson PD (2006) Mesocestoides litteratus (Batsch, 1786) (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea: Mesocestoididae) from the red fox: morphological and 18S rDNA characterization of European isolates. Helminthologia 43:191–195
Littlewood DTJ, Olson PD (2001) Small subunit rDNA and the Platyhelminthes: signal, noise, conflict and compromise. In: Littlewood DTJ, Bray RA (eds) Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes. Taylor & Francis, London, pp 262–278
Magi M, Macchloni F, Pratl MC, Calderlni P, Gabrlelli S, Lori A et al (2009) Endoparasites of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in central Italy. J Wildl Dis 45:881–885
Malakauskas A, Paulauskas V, Järvis T, Keidans P, Eddi C, Kapel CMO (2007) Molecular epidemiology of Trichinella spp. in three Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Parasitol Res 100(4):687–693
Martinez-Carrasco C, Ruiz De Ybanez MR, Sagarminaga JL, Garijo MM, Moreno F et al (2007) Parasites of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus, 1758) in Murcia, southeast Spain. Rev Med Vet 158:331–335
Nickisch-Rosenegk M, Richard L, Loos-Frank B (1999) Contributions to the phylogeny of the Cyclophyllidea (Cestoda) inferred from mitochondrial 12S rDNA. J Mol Evol 48:586–596
Padgett KA, Nandler SA, Munson L, Sacks B, Boyce WM (2005) Systematics of Mesocesoides (Cestoda: Mesocestoididae): evaluation of molecular and morphological variation among isolates. J Parasitol 91:1435–1443
Priemer J (1982) On the problem of European Mesocestoides species (Cestoda) from mammals. Helminthologia 20:89–95
Rausch RL (1994) Family Mesocestoididae Fuhrmann, 1907. In: Khail LF, Jones A, Bray RA (eds) Keys to the cestode parasites of vertebrates. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 309–314
Segovia JM, Guerrero R, Torres J, Miquel J, Feliu C (2003) Ecological analyses of the intestinal helminth communities of the wolf, Canis lupus, in Spain. Folia Parasitol 50:231–236
Tamura K, Dudley J, Nei M, Kumar S (2007) MEGA4: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) software version 4.0. Mol Biol Evol 24:1596–1599
Tenora F (2005) Mesocestoides litteratus (Batsch, 1786) (Cestoda), parasite of Vulpes vulpes (L., 1758) (Carnivora) in the Czech Republic. Acta Univ Agr et Silvi Mendel Brun 53:185–188
Wirtherle N, Wiemann A, Ottenjann M, Linzmann H, Grinten E, Kohn B et al (2007) First case of canine peritoneal larval cestodosis caused by Mesocestoides lineatus in Germany. Parasitol Int 56:317–320
Yanchev Y (1986) On the morphology, taxonomy and distribution of the species of the genus Mesocestoides Vailland, 1863 in Bulgaria. Khelmintologiya 21:45–65 (In Bulgarian)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zaleśny, G., Hildebrand, J. Molecular identification of Mesocestoides spp. from intermediate hosts (rodents) in central Europe (Poland). Parasitol Res 110, 1055–1061 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2598-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2598-7