Korean J Parasitol.  2016 Aug;54(4):503-507. 10.3347/kjp.2016.54.4.503.

Molecular Detection of Spirometra decipiens in the United States

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Parasitology, Medical Research Institute and Parasite Resource Bank, Chungbuk National University School of Medicine, Cheongju 28644, Korea. kseom@chungbuk.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 52727, Korea.

Abstract

The genus Spirometra belongs to the family Diphyllobothriidae and order Pseudophyllidea, and includes intestinal parasites of cats and dogs. In this study, a plerocercoid labeled as Spirometra mansonoides from the USA was examined for species identification and phylogenetic analysis using 2 complete mitochondrial genes, cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 (nad3). The cox1 sequences (1,566 bp) of the plerocercoid specimen (USA) showed 99.2% similarity to the reference sequences of the plerocercoid of Korean Spirometra decipiens (GenBank no. KJ599679), and 99.1% similarity in regard to nad3 (346 bp). Phylogenetic tree topologies generated using 4 analytical methods were identical and showed high confidence levels with bootstrap values of 1.00, 100%, 100%, and 100% for Bayesian inference (BI), maximum-likelihood (ML), neighbor-joining (NJ), and maximum parsimony (MP) methods, respectively. Representatives of Diphyllobothrium and Spirometra species formed a monophyletic group, and the sister-genera status between these species was well supported. Trapezoic proglottids in the posterior 1/5 region of an adult worm obtained from an experimentally infected cat were morphologically examined. The outer uterine loop of the uterus coiling characteristically consisted of 2 complete turns. The results clearly indicated that the examined Spirometra specimen from the USA matched to S. decipiens very well, and indicated possible presence of the life cycle of this species in this region.

Keyword

Spirometra decipiens; sparganum; molecular detection; cox1; nad3; USA

MeSH Terms

Adult
Animals
Cats
Diphyllobothrium
Dogs
Electron Transport Complex IV
Genes, Mitochondrial
Humans
Life Cycle Stages
NADH Dehydrogenase
Parasites
Sparganum
Spirometra*
Trees
United States*
Uterus
Electron Transport Complex IV
NADH Dehydrogenase
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