Neobalantidium coli: First molecular identification from the Eurasian wild boar, Sus Scrofa in Bushehr Province, Southwestern Iran

Abstract

Balantidium coli is a common parasite of pig and wild boars (Sus scrofa) which can infect humans and several species of mammals. This study aimed to determine the genotype of Balantidium isolated from Eurasian wild boars in Bushehr province, Southwestern Iran. Twenty‐five faecal samples, originating from 25 wild boars captivated in our previous study, were processed. DNA was extracted from the faecal samples and PCR‐amplified, targeting an ITS1–5.8s‐rRNA–ITS2 region of Balantidium genome. PCR product was purified from the gel, and sequenced. BLAST analysis was performed in order to compare our isolates with other previously reported ones. A phylogenetic tree was constructed, using MegaX software, to find out the phylogenetic diversity of the isolates. With PCR it was possible to detect Balantidium DNA in the faecal samples of 13 out of 25 (52%) of the wild boars. BLAST analysis of seven isolates revealed that the isolates belong to the newly introduced genus Neobalantidium coli. Sequences of three isolates were deposited in the GenBank. Moreover, molecular analysis revealed six areas of nucleotide differences within the isolates and nine areas of difference between the sequences obtained in this study and those available in the GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the sequences of isolates of this study have up to 2.2% dissimilarity from those published in the GenBank. The findings of this study, for the first time, revealed that some of the isolates of Balantidium originating from wild boars in Southwestern Iran belonged to the N. coli.

Zoonotic Parasites in Artiodactyls with Emphasis on the Feral Boar in the Atlantic Forest, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Only a few of the articles retrieved in the literature confirm the presence of B. coli in free-living feral pig feces identified using molecular biology techniques. Similar to this study, B. coli was also identified by means of molecular tools in the feces of free-ranging feral pigs in Iran [59]. Thus, it should be noted that this is the first study conducted in the Americas that identified the zoonotic protozoan B. coli by means of the molecular analysis of a biological sample from free-living S. scrofa, indicating that this bioinvader is a potential reservoir of the protozoan in a tropical region.…”

Whole-exome mutational landscape of metastasis in patient-derived hepatocellular carcinoma cells

“…To illustrate the clonal heterogeneity of MHCC97-L, MHCC97-H and HCC97LM3 cells, an evolutionary tree based on genomic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was constructed in MegaX software. 14 Neighbor-Joining algorithm was used to construct evolutionary tree, and P-distance model was used to calculate distance. Venn diagram was utilized to demonstrate the relationship between mutation sites and gene composition in the three HCC cell lines.…”