Molecular evidence of piroplasm infection in companion animals in Hunan Province, China.

BACKGROUND: Feline and canine babesiosis is an important tick-borne disease caused by parasites of the genus Babesia. The disease has a worldwide distribution and causes serious health problems in domestic and wild canidae and felidae. RESULTS: Genomic DNA was isolated from blood samples, which were randomly collected from pet dogs (n = 115) and cats (n = 25) in Changsha city of Hunan Province, China. Results of nested PCR assay targeting 18S rRNA gene and partial gene sequencing revealed that seven animals were infected with Babesia species, five dogs (5/115, 4.3%) and two cats (2/25, 8.0%). Sequence analysis showed that four dogs (3.5%) were positive for Babesia canis, and the other one for Babesia vogeli (0.87%). The two cats were infected by Babesia hongkongensis. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study will expand knowledge of the distribution of Babesia species and provide important epidemiological information for the control of animal babesiosis in China.

Composition and Diversity of Gut Bacterial Community in Different Life Stages of Osmia excavata Alfken (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae).

Osmia excavata is an excellent pollinator in nature and plays a vital role in the conservation of agro-ecosystems and food security. Given the important role of the gut bacterial community in host health and regulation of host growth and development, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing data, the present study explored the composition of the gut bacterial community and its diversity at different life stages (eggs, young larvae, old larvae, young pupae, old pupae, and 1-day-old adults in cocoons) of the solitary bee Osmia excavata. The results showed that the core phyla in the gut of O. excavata at different life stages were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Actinobacteriota, and the core genera were Sodalis, Tyzzerella, and Ralstonia. The highest intestinal bacterial diversity was found in the Egg period, and the lowest bacterial alpha diversity was found in the 1-day-old Adult period; the bacterial diversity of O. excavata showed a process of decreasing, as it was growing from the Egg period to the 1-day-old Adult period. Our study found that O. excavata undergoes a significant change in the structure of the gut flora when it grows from the young pupae to old pupae stage, a period of growth that coincides with the process of cocooning and isolation from the external environment after food depletion. This suggests that food and environmental factors are key contributors to the structure of the bacterial community in the gut of solitary bees.