Abstract
Simple SummaryIn this article, we investigated the occurrence of Sarcocystis species in samples of sheep and goats obtained from slaughterhouses in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We searched for tongue, heart, esophagus, diaphragm and skeletal muscle tissues. Fragments of these tissues were investigated by macroscopic evaluations, direct optical microscopy of tissue fragments, optical microscopy of digested fragment sediment, transmission electron microscopy and PCR followed by nucleotide sequencing. From the set of information obtained, we searched 230 sheep, and 84 goats; 91 and 36 were found to be infected, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed Sarcocystis tenella (S. tenella) in sheep and Sarcocystis capracanis (S. capracanis) in goats. Sarcocystis species were confirmed in Saudi Arabian sheep and goats by molecular testing. S. capracanis was most closely related to S. tenella, with the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COX1) sequences sharing a (91.7%) identity.Sarcocystosis is induced by species of Sarcocystis, which is an intracellular protozoan parasite in the phylum Apicomplexa. The diversity and importance of Sarcocystis species in sheep and goats in Saudi Arabia are poorly understood. In this study, the tongue, esophagus, heart, diaphragm, and skeletal muscles were collected from 230 sheep and 84 goats, and the tissues were examined for the presence of Sarcocystis species by macroscopic examination and light microscopy. Microscopic Sarcocystis species cysts were found in both sheep and goats. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed S. tenella in sheep and S. capracanis in goats. Sarcocystis species were confirmed for the first time in Saudi Arabian sheep and goats by molecular testing. S. capracanis was most closely related to S. tenella, with the COX1 sequences sharing 91.7% identity. A phylogenetic analysis produced similar results and indicated that the Sarcocystis isolates were within a group of Sarcocystis species in which dogs were the final host. Finally, the Sarcocystis species cysts from sheep and goats could be grouped together, indicating that they were strongly related.
Highlights
Sarcocystis species have an obligatory heteroxenous life cycle [1]
An investigation of random muscles samples obtained from 314 slaughtered sheep and goats for the presence of Sarcocystis species revealed that the prevalence of Sarcocystis in naturally infected Niemy sheep, Najdy sheep, Sawakny sheep, and goats was 35.18%, 43.33%, 43.75%, and 42.85%, respectively (Table 2)
To determine the presence of Sarcosystis spp., the present study examined the esophagus, tongue, diaphragm, skeletal muscle, and heart tissue from 230 sheep and 84 goat specimens
Summary
Sarcocystis species have an obligatory heteroxenous (prey-predator) life cycle [1]. Sarcocystis infection is common among various vertebrates, including people [2,3,4,5,6,7]. As for Sarcocystis species in cervids, nucleotide sequences of the nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA gene (18S rRNA) and/or the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COX1) of approximately 30 species are currently available for comparative molecular studies [19,20]. Of these markers, COX1 has been found to be superior to 18S rRNA in resolving unclear species boundaries of closely related Sarcocystis species in various ruminant intermediate hosts [20,21,22]. The present study aimed to analyze the genes encoding COX1 in Sarcocystis species isolated from naturally infected sheep and goats in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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