Morphological and Molecular Characterization of <i>Explanatum Explanatum</i> from Cattle and Buffaloes in Myanmar

Abstract

ABSTRACT. A robust molecular marker is needed for discrimination of amphistome species, because identification based on morphology alone requires specialized knowledge and techniques. In this study, we performed morphological and molecular characterization of Explanatum explanatum, a species that causes severe liver damage in definitive host species. Fifty-five adult amphistomes were collected from cattle and water buffaloes in Myanmar. Eighteen of the amphistomes, arbitrarily chosen, were morphologically identified as E. explanatum using sagittal sections. All of the 55 amphistome isolates had identical second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA sequences; these sequences differed at 7 nucleotide sites from those of the closest species, Paramphistomum leydeni. Our data indicate that the ITS2 sequence could be a useful molecular marker for epidemiological studies on E. explanatum.

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of <i>Explanatum explanatum</i> in India based on nucleotide sequences of ribosomal ITS2 and the mitochondrial gene <i>nad1</i>

“…There was no diversity among the ITS2 sequences of the 70 flukes, and they were completely identical to the sequences of E. explanatum from Myanmar (AB743577) [10], Bangladesh (LC101682) [15] and Nepal (LC101684) [15], indicating the flukes were molecularly identified as E. explanatum , according to the previous report [8]. The result suggests that the ITS2 sequence of E. explanatum is highly conserved and rarely shows intraspecific variation.…”

“…Recently, molecular identification methods based on the nucleotide sequence of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) have been developed for the precise identification of amphistomes, including E. explanatum [8, 9]. In addition, the nucleotide sequence of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 ( nad1 ) has been used for intraspecific phylogenetic analysis in many helminth species [7, 12, 15].…”

“…The result suggests that the ITS2 sequence of E. explanatum is highly conserved and rarely shows intraspecific variation. Further, the ITS2 sequence differed at 7 nucleotide sites from the most closely related species ( Paramphistomum leydeni ) and was clearly distinguished from that of other amphistome species [8, 9]; therefore, the ITS2 sequence is considered to be a suitable marker for discriminating E. explanatum from other amphistome species.…”

Morphological and molecular identification of Explanatum explanatum in domestic water buffalo in Pakistan

“…The environments in which water buffalo are kept are well suited to the water and mud snails that act as intermediate hosts for a range of Fasciolidae, Paramphistomatidae, Dicrocoeliidae and Schistosomatidae trematode parasites of the liver, forestomach, intestinal tract and blood, causing disease and production loss. Immature and adult parasites of the Fasciolidae (Afshan et al, 2013;Amor et al, 2011;Shahzad W, 2012;Shoriki et al, 2014) and Paramphistomatidae families (Hanna et al, 1988;Ichikawa et al, 2013;Khan et al, 1990;Mazahery et al, 1994) are common in the liver parenchyma and bile ducts of slaughtered buffalo kept throughout subtropical regions. In addition, the Dicrocoeliidae family parasites which require a land snail first intermediate host, are occasionally reported in the livers of buffalo in subtropical regions, for example in Iran and India (Eduardo, 1985;Gorjipoor et al, 2015;Jithendran and Bhat, 1996).…”

A review on the molecular characterization of digenean parasites using molecular markers with special reference to ITS region

“…This PCR method could be valuable tool for analyzing specimens from Argentina and adjacent territories along with additional genus or species characterization. Ichikawa et al (2013) studied amphistomes from cattle and water buffaloes from Myanmar for morphological and molecular characterization using ITS-2, partial 5.8S and 28S rDNA sequences. ITS-2 sequences of 55 samples of Explanatum explanatum expressed similarity and varied at 7 nucleotide sites compared to Paramphistomum leydeni.…”