Abstract
BackgroundEnterocytozoon bieneusi is an obligate, intracellular fungus and is commonly reported in humans and animals. To date, there have been no reports of E. bieneusi infections in Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus). The present study was conducted to understand the occurrence and molecular characteristics of E. bieneusi in Bactrian camels in China.ResultsOf 407 individual Bactrian camel fecal specimens, 30.0% (122) were E. bieneusi-positive by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on internal transcriber spacer (ITS) sequence analysis. A total of 14 distinct E. bieneusi ITS genotypes were obtained: eight known genotypes (genotype EbpC, EbpA, Henan-IV, BEB6, CM8, CHG16, O and WL17), and six novel genotypes (named CAM1 to CAM6). Genotype CAM1 (59.0%, 72/122) was the most predominant genotype in Bactrian camels in Xinjiang, and genotype EbpC (18.9%, 23/122) was the second-most predominant genotype. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that six known genotypes (EbpC, EbpA, WL17, Henan-IV, CM8 and O) and three novel genotypes (CAM3, CAM5 and CAM6) fell into the human-pathogenic group 1. Two known genotypes (CHG16 and BEB6) fell into the cattle host-specific group 2. The novel genotypes CAM1, CAM 2 and CAM4 cluster into group 8.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first report of E. bieneusi in Bactrian camels. The host-specific genotype CAM1 was the predominant genotype, which plays a negligible role in the zoonotic transmission of E. bieneusi. However, the second-most predominant genotype, EbpC, has greater zoonotic potential.
Highlights
Enterocytozoon bieneusi is an obligate, intracellular fungus and is commonly reported in humans and animals
Of all 407 individual Bactrian camel fecal specimens, 30.0% (122) were E. bieneusi-positive based on the internal transcriber spacer (ITS) sequence analysis
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of E. bieneusi in Bactrian camels, and the pathogen is widespread in Xinjiang, northwestern China
Summary
Enterocytozoon bieneusi is an obligate, intracellular fungus and is commonly reported in humans and animals. There have been no reports of E. bieneusi infections in Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus). The present study was conducted to understand the occurrence and molecular characteristics of E. bieneusi in Bactrian camels in China. There are at least 14 microsporidian species reported to be infectious to humans [2]. Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most frequently detected species in humans [3], as well as in domestic animals and wildlife [4], and even in environmental water samples [5]. More than 200 E. bieneusi genotypes have been identified in humans and animals by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene sequence analysis [2, 6]. There are some reports of intestinal pathogen infections in camels and Bactrian camels in the Middle East countries and China, such as Eimeria spp. and Cryptosporidium
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