Mitochondrial Genome Supports Sibling Species of Angiostrongylus costaricensis (Nematoda: Angiostrongylidae)

Abstract

Angiostrongylus costaricensis is a zoonotic parasitic nematode that causes abdominal or intestinal angiostrongyliasis in humans. It is endemic to the Americas. Although the mitochondrial genome of the Brazil taxon has been published, there is no available mitochondrial genome data on the Costa Rica taxon. We report here the complete mitochondrial genome of the Costa Rica taxon and its genetic differentiation from the Brazil taxon. The whole mitochondrial genome was obtained from next-generation sequencing of genomic DNA. It had a total length of 13,652 bp, comprising 36 genes (12 protein-coding genes—PCGs, 2 rRNA and 22 tRNA genes) and a control region (A + T rich non-coding region). It is longer than that of the Brazil taxon (13,585 bp). The larger mitogenome size of the Costa Rica taxon is due to the size of the control region as the Brazil taxon has a shorter length (265 bp) than the Costa Rica taxon (318 bp). The size of 6 PCGs and the start codon for ATP6, CYTB and NAD5 genes are different between the Costa Rica and Brazil taxa. Additionally, the two taxa differ in the stop codon of 6 PCGs. Molecular phylogeny based on 12 PCGs was concordant with two rRNA, 22 tRNA and 36 mitochondrial genes. The two taxa have a genetic distance of p = 16.2% based on 12 PCGs, p = 15.3% based on 36 mitochondrial genes, p = 13.1% based on 2 rRNA genes and p = 10.7% based on 22 tRNA genes, indicating status of sibling species. The Costa Rica and Brazil taxa of A. costaricensis are proposed to be accorded specific status as members of a species complex.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis: a review of its distribution, molecular biology and clinical significance as a human pathogen

“…While the absence of a TΨC-arm is not uncommon in tRNAs encoded on nematode mt genomes (Watanabe et al 2014), differences were observed between isolates; 17 and 16 tRNAs lacked the TΨC-arm in the Chinese and Taiwanese mt genomes, respectively (Yong et al 2015 c ). A second 13 652 bp A. costaricensis mt genome was sequenced from a Costa Rican isolate (Yong et al 2015 d ) and compared to the original A. costaricensis mt genome, derived from a Brazilian parasite (Lv et al 2012). Based on phylogenetic analyses and genetic distances calculated for the mt genes, it was proposed that these parasites should be considered distinct members of a species complex, or sibling species (Yong et al 2015 d ).…”

Angiostrongylus mackerrasae and A. cantonensis (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) belong to same genetic lineage: evidence from mitochondrial protein-coding genes

“…Both A. mackerrasae and A. cantonensis are genetically distinct from A. malaysiensis (p > 11%). A large genetic difference between sibling species is also found in the Costa Rican and Brazilian taxa of A. costaricensis (p = 16.17%, table 1; Yong et al , 2015b). The magnitude of the genetic difference is similar for the amino acid sequence of the 12 PCGs (table 1) as well as the complete mitochondrial cox1 nucleotide sequence (table 2).…”

The mitochondrial genome of Angiostrongylus mackerrasae is distinct from A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis

“…Phylogenetic studies of Angiostrongylus and other nematode species often rely on the amplification of cox1 (Rodpai et al ., 2016; Eamsobhana et al ., 2018). The cox1 region is a useful ‘barcoding’ region that may enable distinguishing species or cryptic species, when inter and intra species distance is considered (Yong et al ., 2015 b ; Červená et al ., 2019). On the other hand, cox1 may not be the best marker for inferring species phylogeny (Dusitsittipon et al ., 2018).…”

“…On the other hand, cox1 may not be the best marker for inferring species phylogeny (Dusitsittipon et al ., 2018). Complete mtDNA sequences including the 12 protein coding genes are now frequently considered for phylogenetic reconstructions of nematodes demonstrating superior resolution support compared to single marker gene sequences (Gasser et al ., 2012; Lv et al ., 2012; Yong et al ., 2015 a , b , 2016; Červená et al ., 2019). Previous studies demonstrated a sister relationship between A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis using either single gene phylogeny or whole mtDNA approaches (Rodpai et al ., 2016; Yong et al ., 2016).…”