Babesia pisicii n. sp. and Babesia canis Infect European Wild Cats, Felis silvestris, in Romania.

Georgiana Deak,Andrei Daniel Mihalca,Gabriel Bogdan Chişamera,Călin Mircea Gherman,Angela Monica Ionică,Costică Adam,Luciana Cătălina Panait,Kristýna Hrazdilová

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9071474

Abstract

Haemoparasites of the genus Babesia infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals. Feline babesiosis is considered endemic in South Africa, while data on Babesia spp. infection in felids in Europe is scarce. Using samples from 51 wild felids, 44 Felis silvestris and 7 Lynx lynx, the study aimed to determine the presence and genetic diversity of Babesia spp. in wild felids in Romania by analyzing the 18S rDNA and two mitochondrial markers, cytochrome b (Cytb) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) genes. By 18S rDNA analyses, Babesia spp. DNA was detected in 20 European wild felids. All sequences showed 100% similarity to B. canis by BLAST analysis. Conversely, Cytb and COI analyses revealed the presence of two Babesia spp., B. pisicii n. sp., which we herein describe, and B. canis. The pairwise comparison of both mitochondrial genes of B. pisicii n. sp. showed a genetic distance of at least 10.3% from the most closely related species, B. rossi. Phylogenetic analyses of Cytb and COI genes revealed that B. pisicii n. sp. is related to the so-called “large” canid-associated Babesia species forming a separate subclade in a sister position to B. rossi.

Highlights

IntroductionThe genus Babesia is composed of apicomplexan tick-transmitted haemoparasites with a remarkable economic, medical, and veterinary impact on domestic and wild animals [1,2,3]
Babesia spp. infection was detected by amplification and sequencing of the 376 bp fragment of the 18S rDNA in 20 wild felids (39.2%; 95% CI: 27.0–52.9)
From the 20 positive F. silvestris samples, 14 (27.5%; 95% CI: 17.1–41.0) yielded an amplicon in the assay targeting the 1670 bp fragment of the 18S rDNA gene

Summary

Introduction

The genus Babesia is composed of apicomplexan tick-transmitted haemoparasites with a remarkable economic, medical, and veterinary impact on domestic and wild animals [1,2,3]. Babesia species are gaining increased interest as potential etiological agents of zoonotic diseases [4,5]. Since the first description of the microorganism in erythrocytes of Romanian cattle by Victor Babeş, at the end of the 19th century, more than 100 new species have been described [6,7]. Robust species differentiation and understanding of their hosts spectrum are necessary for the identification of the parasite in endangered wild species, and for proper diagnostic of the clinical cases in domestic animals

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Discussion

Conclusion