Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide prevalent parasite, affecting a wide range of mammals and human beings. Little information is available about the distribution of genetic diversity of T. gondii infection in minks (Neovison vison). This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and genetic characterization of T. gondii isolates from minks in China. A total of 418 minks brain tissue samples were collected from Jilin and Hebei provinces, northern China. Genomic DNA were extracted and assayed for T. gondii infection by semi-nested PCR of B1 gene. The positive DNA samples were typed at 10 genetic markers (SAG1, SAG2 (5'+3' SAG2, alter.SAG2), SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico) using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technology. 36 (8.6%) of 418 DNA samples were overall positive for T. gondii. Among them, 5 samples were genotyped at all loci, and 1 sample was genotyped for 9 loci. In total, five samples belong to ToxoDB PCR-RFLP genotype#9, one belong to ToxoDB genotye#3. To our knowledge, this is the first report of genetic characterization of T. gondii in minks in China. Meanwhile, these results revealed a distribution of T. gondii infection in minks in China. These data provided base-line information for controlling T. gondii infection in minks.
Highlights
Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic pathogen, which can infect virtually all warm-blooded animals and humans [1]
PalominoMink (11.9%) were more than three times (OR = 3.11, 95% CI = 0.36–24.72) at risk of acquiring T. gondii infection compared to HedlundMink (4.2%), indicating that difference of T. gondii infection could be existence in different breeds of mink, but the difference was not statistically significant in different breeds (P>0.05) (Table 1)
A total of five (83.3%, 1 from Jilin province and 4 from Hebei province) samples were identified as ToxoDB#9 which was the predominant genotypes in animals in China according to previous studies [26,27,28,29,30,31], this result indicated that predominant genotypes of T. gondii was prevalent in minks in China
Summary
Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic pathogen, which can infect virtually all warm-blooded animals and humans [1]. Humans and animals get infection mainly through ingestion of tissue cysts in undercooked meat or oocysts in food or water [3]. T. gondii infection can present with various symptoms in humans and animals [4,5,6,7]. It is necessary to determine genetic characterization of T. gondii isolates from different sources in China. The amount of data on T. gondii genotypes is growing, the information regarding the distribution of T. gondii genotypes is limited in China, and it is yet to know T. gondii genotypes in minks, one of the most important fur-bearing animals. Minks is an important economic animal, and become an important source of T. gondii infection for humans and other animals. This study, was conducted to determine the genetic characterization of T. gondii isolates in minks in China
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