Molecular characterization and phylogenetic studies of Echinococcus granulosus and Taenia multiceps coenurus cysts in slaughtered sheep in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Taeniids, consisting of two genera Echinococcus and Taenia, are obligatory tapeworms of mammals, and their pathogenicity was due to infection with larval stages. Hydatid (the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus) and coenurus (the larval stage of Taenia multiceps) cysts are prevalent in domestic, wild ruminants, livestock, swine, and dogs, and accidentally they could also be found in humans. They lead to different clinical manifestations that cause economic loss in livestock and human morbidity. In Saudi Arabia, few studies were performed on hydatid and coenurus cyst genetic variations. The main goal of the present study was to identify E. granulosus and T. multiceps cyst isolates collected from slaughtered Harri sheep in Saudi Arabia by partial sequencing with PCR amplification of the cytochrome C oxidase 1 (COX1) gene. Molecular and phylogenetic evaluation based on COX1 sequences indicated that cyst isolates belong to E. granulosus and T. multiceps, respectively, successfully submitted in NCBI Genbank. Molecular characterization showed a low nucleotide diversity with two submitted isolates of coenurus with related isolates of Genbank. Conversely, E. granulosus isolates showed higher nucleotide diversity. The reported data could serve as a foundation for future molecular epidemiological and biological studies.

Epidemiology, Molecular, and Phylogenetic Characterization of Echinococcus granulosus Cysts in Slaughtered Farm Animals in Al-Jouf Province, Saudi Arabia

“…Mitochondrial DNA sequences (mtDNA) are extensively used for molecular categorization and phylogenetic analyses of E. granulosus. The cox1 gene is the most frequently used mtDNA gene for phylogenetic analysis of helminth parasites (Mirbadie et al, 2019;Al Malki and Hussien, 2021). PCR and phylogenetic analysis revealed that among the livestock tested in this study, sheep were the primary host of E. granulosus in Saudi Arabia.…”

Cystic echinococcosis in cattle and sheep caused by Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto genotypes G1 and G3 in the USA

“…In this study, five out of 13 cysts isolated from sheep were identified as T. hydatigena . Identification and differentiation of T. hydatigena and E. granulosus can be performed accurately with molecular methods as demonstrated in this and prior studies [ 45 , 46 ]. The presence of metacestodes of either species can lead to organ condemnation in abattoirs to prevent the entry of these parasites into human and animal food supplies, despite the metacestode stage not being directly infectious to humans.…”