BackgroundCutaneous dirofilariosis is a canine mosquito-borne zoonosis that can cause larva migrans disease in humans. Dirofilaria repens is considered an emerging pathogen occurring with high prevalence in Mediterranean areas and many parts of tropical Asia. In Hong Kong, a second species, Candidatus Dirofilaria hongkongensis, has been reported. The present study aimed to compare mitochondrial genomes from these parasites and to obtain population genetic information.Methods and FindingsComplete mitochondrial genomes were obtained by PCR and Sanger sequencing or ILLUMINA sequencing for four worms. Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 sequences identified three as D. repens (all from Europe) and one as C. D. hongkongensis (from India). Mitochondrial genomes have the same organization as in other spirurid nematodes but a higher preference for thymine in the coding strand. Phylogenetic analysis was in contradiction to current taxonomy of the Onchocercidae but in agreement with a recent multi-locus phylogenetic analysis using both mitochondrial and nuclear markers. D. repens and C. D. hongkongensis sequences clustered together and were the common sister group to Dirofilaria immitis. Analysis of a 2.5 kb mitochondrial genome fragment from macrofilaria or canine blood samples from Europe (42), Thailand (2), India (1) and Vietnam (1) revealed only small genetic differences in the D. repens samples including all European and the Vietnam sample. The Indian C. D. hongkongensis and the two Thai samples formed separate clusters and differences were comparatively large.ConclusionGenetic differences between Dirofilaria spp. causing cutaneous disease can be considerable whereas D. repens itself was genetically quite homogenous. C. D. hongkongensis was identified for the first time from the Indian subcontinent. The full mitochondrial genome sequence strengthens the hypothesis that it represents an independent species and the Thai samples might represent another cryptic species, Candidatus Dirofilaria sp. ‘Thailand II’, or a quite divergent population of C. D. hongkongensis.

Benzimidazoles (BZs) remain amongst the most widely used anthelmintic drug classes against gastro-intestinal nematode infections, although their efficacy is increasingly compromised by resistance. The primary underlying mechanisms for BZ resistance are single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the isotype 1 β-tubulin gene causing the substitutions F167Y, E198A or F200Y. However, resistance is believed to be multi-genic and previous studies have shown that isolates carrying 90–100% F200Y can vary considerably in their resistance level in the egg hatch assay (EHA). Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs) are associated with drug resistance in mammals and arthropods and have been considered as mediators of anthelmintic resistance. In Caenorhabditis elegans, several members of the CYP34/35 and CYP31 families are BZ and/or xenobiotic inducible and thiabendazole (TBZ) is metabolised by CYP35D1. Here, expression of all 5 CYPs closely related to the C. elegans CYP34/35 and CYP31 families was investigated in fourth-stage larvae of two susceptible and three BZ-resistant Haemonchus contortus isolates following in vitro exposure to TBZ for 3 and 6 h using real-time RT-PCR. The resistance status of all isolates was determined using EHAs and quantification of resistance-associated β-tubulin SNPs using pyrosequencing. While none of the CYPs was TBZ inducible, constitutive expression of CYP34/35 family member HCOI100383400 was significantly 2.4–3.7-fold higher in the multi-drug resistant WR isolate with the strongest BZ resistance phenotype compared to susceptible and intermediate-level BZ-resistant isolates. Although this increase is only moderate, HCOI100383400 might still be involved in high-level BZ resistance by further decreasing susceptibility in isolates already carrying 100% of a β-tubulin SNP causing BZ resistance. Lower transcript levels were observed for all CYPs in the intermediately resistant IRE isolate in comparison to the susceptible HcH isolate, which, except for CYP HCOI01579500, were statistically non-significant. This suggests that none of the investigated CYPs may contribute to protection against TBZ in this particular isolate.

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