Abstract
BackgroundCysticercosis caused by the metacestode larval stage of Taenia hydatigena is a disease of veterinary and economic importance. A considerable level of genetic variation among isolates of different intermediate hosts and locations has been documented. Generally, data on the genetic population structure of T. hydatigena is scanty and lacking in Nigeria. Meanwhile, similar findings in other cestodes like Echinococcus spp. have been found to be of epidemiological importance. Our aim, therefore, was to characterize and compare the genetic diversity of T. hydatigena population in Nigeria based on three mitochondrial DNA markers as well as to assess the phylogenetic relationship with populations from other geographical regions.MethodsIn the present study, we described the genetic variation and diversity of T. hydatigena isolates from Nigerian sheep and goats using three full-length mitochondrial genes: the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1), and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (nad5).ResultsThe median-joining network of concatenated cox1-nad1-nad5 sequences indicated that T. hydatigena metacestodes of sheep origin were genetically distinct from those obtained in goats and this was supported by high FST values of nad1, cox1, and concatenated cox1-nad1-nad5 sequences. Genetic variation was also found to be higher in isolates from goats than from sheep.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, the present study described the genetic variation of T. hydatigena population for the first time in Nigeria using full-length mitochondrial genes and suggests the existence of host-specific variants. The population indices of the different DNA markers suggest that analysis of long mitochondrial DNA fragments may provide more information on the molecular ecology of T. hydatigena. We recommend that future studies employ long mitochondrial DNA sequence in order to provide reliable data that would explain the extent of genetic variation in different hosts/locations and the biological and epidemiological significance.
Highlights
Cysticercosis caused by the metacestode larval stage of Taenia hydatigena is a disease of veterinary and economic importance
Cestodes belonging to the genus Taenia infect a wide range of intermediate host species where the metacestode larval stage causes cysticercosis or coenurosis
The epidemiology is such that prevalence is usually higher in sheep and goats in most African and European countries compared to countries in Asia [1, 4, 5], and higher in pigs in Asian and South American countries than in countries of other regions [4, 6, 7]
Summary
Cysticercosis caused by the metacestode larval stage of Taenia hydatigena is a disease of veterinary and economic importance. The metacestode larval stage of T. hydatigena infects mostly domestic animals such as goats, sheep and pigs, resulting in cysticercosis; an infection of veterinary importance that causes huge economic loses especially in livestock production as a result of mortality [1], condemnation of infected organs and carcasses, and the financial cost of diagnosis and inspection [2,3,4,5]. Taenia hydatigena has a global distribution with a prevalence range of 0.1–32.0%, differing between countries and hosts [4,5,6] The epidemiology is such that prevalence is usually higher in sheep and goats in most African and European countries compared to countries in Asia [1, 4, 5], and higher in pigs in Asian and South American countries than in countries of other regions [4, 6, 7]
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