Genetic characterization of Toxocara vitulorum in turkey by mitochondrial gene markers (cox1)

ABSTRACT

Background: Toxocara vitulorum is a involved in the Ascaridoidea family and is a large roundworm with a semi translucent, soft body surface and pinkish color. Female worms measure 8-30cm in length, male worms 6-25cm. The major hosts of T.vitulorum are buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and cattle (Bos species) in the humid tropics of Asia, Africa and South America. The diagnosis of T. vitulorum infections is usually made by observing characteristic eggs in routine fecal examination. Serological methods are also used to diagnose Toxocariasis. However, in recent years, PCR, a new generation molecular diagnostic method, has been used. The genetic structure of T. vitulorum is little known compared with data available from other parasites. The present sutudy was designed to determine the T. vitulorum isolates by the genetic characterization of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene.Materials, Methods & Results: Adult worms were collected from the feces of two calves (East Anatolian Red) during visits to the clinic at the Department of Internal Medicine of Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Worms were washed thoroughly in 0.85 % saline to remove any debris and fixed into 70 % ethanol. After repeated and thoroughly washing the specimens, total genomic DNA of parasite extraction was performed be employing DNA extraction reagent kit (Thermo, GeneJET Genomic DNA Purification Kit) according to manufacturer’s recommendations. After DNA amplification, a 446 bp fragment of cox1 of T. vitulorum were obtained in all three isolates. All generated sequences were registered in GenBank database with accession numbers including MG905159, MG911729 and MG911730. The cox1 of T. vitulorum examined differed from another two isolates extracted from Germany beef cattle (KY313642.1) and Sri Lanka buffalo calf (FJ664617.1) at NCBI database.[...]