Abstract
To determine potential intermediate hosts of Oxyspirura petrowi, a common nematode eyeworm of wild gallinaceous birds, various arthropod species including red harvester ants, beetles, wood cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, and desert termites were screened for the presence of O. petrowi using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers targeting the internal transcribed spacer 2 region (ITS2) of the eyeworm ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA). This is the first study to investigate the intermediate hosts of O. petrowi utilizing molecular techniques. We determined 38% (13/34) of the cockroaches, 27% (3/11) of the crickets, and 23% (68/289) of the grasshoppers which were positive for O. petrowi. Identifying potential intermediate hosts of O. petrowi is essential to better understanding the epizoology of the eyeworm’s transmission mechanics and to controlling infections in wild gallinaceous birds.
Highlights
The long-term, and recently (2011–2013) more rapid, decline of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) numbers in the Rolling Plains ecoregion of Texas and Oklahoma was investigated to determine factors that may be influencing their abundance (Fig. 1)
We report here the development of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based technique for the detection of any O. petrowi life stages in arthropods, for the purpose of learning more about its potential intermediate hosts
Of the arthropods determined to be positive for O. petrowi by PCR, 38% (13/34) of the cockroaches, 27% (3/11) of the crickets, and 23% (68/289) of the grasshoppers were determined to contain Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of O. petrowi
Summary
The long-term, and recently (2011–2013) more rapid, decline of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) numbers in the Rolling Plains ecoregion of Texas and Oklahoma was investigated to determine factors that may be influencing their abundance (Fig. 1). Infection rates of 41.4% of bobwhite collected from individual sites in the Rolling Plains ecoregion by the parasitic nematode eyeworm Oxyspirura petrowi (Spirurida:Thelaziidae) was reported (Dunham et al 2016). These eyeworms are observed on the corneal surface under the nictitating membrane, in nasolacrimal ducts and in conjunctival sacs, causing cellular damage to these tissues; their effect on the survivability of their hosts is unknown. The life cycle of O. petrowi is not well described, but it is assumed to be similar to that of O. mansoni, a common eyeworm of poultry. Parasitol Res (2018) 117:819–823 was chosen as target for developing species-specific primers
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