First Detection and Molecular Identification of Entamoeba in Yaks from China

Abstract

Background Yak, a predominant livestock of plateau areas, is known as a host to many parasites. And the genus Entamoeba, the third-common cause of the mortality worldwide from parasitic diseases, was discovered in yaks once. Methods We investigated the distribution and species of Entamoeba spp. from yaks in Qinghai province, northwestern China, by collecting 1027 yak fecal samples. All samples were divided according to seven geographical sites, four seasons, and two age groups of yaks. After extracting DNA, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to amplify the 18S rRNA gene, and sequences were analyzed with phylogenetic method. ResultsWe observed an overall Entamoeba positive rate of 36.32% (373/1027) in yaks from Qinghai province. The common species included Entamoeba bovis (284/373), Entamoeba sp. MG107/BEL (79/373), Entamoeba sp. ribosomal lineage (RL) two (8/373), and Entamoeba sp. RL9 (2/373). According to the result of statistical analysis, Entamoeba infection rate was the highest in summer and significantly differed from that observed during other seasons (P < 0.05). The yaks from Golog had the highest prevalence of Entamoeba among all geographical origins in Qinghai province (P < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed (P > 0.05) among different age groups, as evident from a positive rate of 39.58% in ≤ 6-month and 36.16% in > 6-month yaks. Conclusion These results indicate the prevalence and predominant species of Entamoeba in yaks. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report E. bovis, Entamoeba sp. RL2, and Entamoeba sp. RL9 in Chinese yaks. Keywords Qinghai • Yak • Entamoeba • 18S rRNA • Phylogeny Abbreviations PCR Polymerase chain reaction RL Ribosomal lineages χ 2 test Chi-square test/Chi-square goodness-of-fit test BLAST Basic local alignment search tool * Qing Lin

First report on the molecular detection of Entamoeba bovis from the endangered wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) in Nepal

“…In the current study, both microscopic and PCR analyses showed that 80% of the wild water buffaloes were infected with E. bovis . A study done in China showed that 100% of cattle and >90% of yak, goat and sheep were infected with E. bovis (Ren et al., 2021 ). E. bovis infection was detected in 80% of cattle and 60% of goats in a study conducted in Uganda (Nolan et al., 2017 ).…”

“…Little is known about the intensification of GI symptoms by mixed parasite infection of ruminant Entamoeba spp. with other intestinal parasites (Matsubayashi et al., 2018 ; Ren et al., 2021 ). Therefore, further study is needed to determine the pathologic consequences of Entamoeba in mixed‐infection situations.…”

“…For the identification of Entamoeba spp., the described primers, JVF and DSPR2, were used targeting the 18S gene (Ren et al., 2021 ). PCR amplification was performed in a 10 μL reaction with 5 μl 1XTaqR Green Master mix, 0.4 μL of 10 μM of each primer, 1 μL of DNA template and nuclease‐free water.…”

“…To obtain DNA in high yield and good quality, prior to purification, the preserved faecal samples in 2.5% potassium dichromate solution (w/v) were subjected to freeze-thaw-boiling and bead beating processes. Briefly, samples were mixed in 0.9% NaCl, sieved using a plastic tea strainer and centrifuged For the identification of Entamoeba spp., the described primers, JVF and DSPR2, were used targeting the 18S gene (Ren et al, 2021). PCR amplification was performed in a 10 µL reaction with 5 µl 1XTaqR…”

“…Entamoeba bovis and similar species inhabit the rumen of ruminant mammals and are morphologically identical to E. histolytica (Stensvold et al., 2010 ). E. bovis has been reported from different hosts, including cattle, goat, sheep, deer, reindeer, gnu and bay duiker (Jacob et al., 2016 ; Matsubayashi et al., 2018 ; Ren et al., 2021 ; Stensvold et al., 2011 ). To date, nine countries (Australia, China, Costa Rica, Iceland, Japan, Libya, Sweden, Uganda and United Kingdom) reported cases of E. bovis (Al‐Habsi et al., 2017 ; Matsubayashi et al., 2018 ; Ren et al., 2021 ).…”