Phylogenetic identification of Sparganum proliferum as a pseudophyllidean cestode by the sequence analyses on mitochondrial COI and nuclear sdhB genes

Research Note. Cox-1 gene sequence of Spirometra in Pampas foxes from Argentina

“…However, neither the morphological features nor the measures (length and width) of eggs allowed us to determine the species. Many published studies have failed to differentiate the genus of operculate eggs morphologically and have thus only reported the presence of eggs of the family Diphyllobothriidae (Milano & Oscherov, 2005;González et al, 2012). Molecular analysis allowed detecting the 450-bp specifi c fragment of the cox1 gene in the three pools of eggs and the sequence of this fragment was identical in all cases.…”

“…In the present work, the analysis of the 450-bp fragment of the cox1 gene did not allow us to confi rm the species of Spirometra. Previous studies have widely used the cox1 gene as genetic marker to identify the genus and species of Spirometra parasites (Miyadera et al, 2001;Nakao et al, 2007). A molecular analysis based on cox1 has shown that S. sparganum isolates (from Venezuela and Japan) are genetically different from those of S. erinaceieuropaei.…”

“…Ijima (1905) reported the proliferative human sparganosis caused by the larval cestode Sparganum proliferum, but did not fi nd the adult stage of the parasite. According to morphological (Ijima 1905) and molecular analyses, S. proliferum is considered a species different from but closely related to S. erinaceieuropaei (Miyadera et al, 2001;Okamoto et al, 2007;Bennet et al, 2014). The life cycle of Spirometra sp.…”

“…The species identifi cation of eggs by means of light microscope observation can be diffi cult because of the morphometric similarity between close genera. Possible morphological alterations because of preservation procedures also make the identifi cation diffi cult (Milano & Oscherov, 2005;González, 2012). In contrast, the molecular tools applied in isolated eggs are fast and less invasive for the identifi cation of these parasites in wild animals.…”

“…Furthermore, molecular tools provide additional information to complement the identifi cation of the species of the genus Spirometra. Most genetic studies have been performed in Asia with diagnostic purposes (e.g., Koonmee et al, 2011;Boonyasiri et al, 2013; and for phylogenetic analysis (e.g., Miyadera et al, 2001;Okamoto et al, 2007;Zhang et al, 2014). Until now, there are no reports on molecular studies based on the genus Spirometra in Argentina.…”