Sporadic isolation of Tetratrichomonas species from the cattle urogenital tract.

Nicholas P Bailey,Elena Velo-Rego,Robert P Hirt

doi:10.1017/s003118202100086x

Nicholas P Bailey, Elena Velo-Rego + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1017/s003118202100086x

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Abstract

Tritrichomonas foetus is a venereal trichomonad parasite which causes reproductive issues in cattle. No other trichomonads are known to be urogenital pathogens in cattle, but there are several reports of Tetratrichomonas and Pentatrichomonas isolates of unclear origin from the cattle urogenital tract (UGT) in the Americas. This study reports the first case of a non-T. foetus cattle urogenital trichomonad isolate in Europe. Molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1-5.8S ribosomal RNA-ITS 2 and 18S ribosomal RNA loci suggest that the isolate is a Tetratrichomonas species from a lineage containing other previously described bull preputial isolates. We identified close sequence similarity between published urogenital and gastrointestinal Tetratrichomonas spp., and this is reviewed alongside further evidence regarding the gastrointestinal origin of non-T. foetus isolates. Routine screening for T. foetus is based on culture and identification by microscopy, and so considering other trichomonad parasites of the bovine UGT is important to avoid misdiagnosis.

Highlights

Tritrichomonas foetus is an important bovine venereal parasite which causes reproductive issues including spontaneous abortion, pyometra and infertility (Dąbrowska et al, 2019), imposing a significant economic burden on the beef and dairy industry (Yule et al, 1989)
This study reports the first case of a non-Tt. foetus trichomonad isolated from the bovine urogenital tract (UGT) in Europe
In agreement with previous reports of cattle urogenital trichomonads (Walker et al, 2003; Kleina et al, 2004; Dufernez et al, 2007), the morphological and sequence data indicate that this isolate is a Tetratrichomonas sp

Summary

Introduction

Tritrichomonas foetus is an important bovine venereal parasite which causes reproductive issues including spontaneous abortion, pyometra and infertility (Dąbrowska et al, 2019), imposing a significant economic burden on the beef and dairy industry (Yule et al, 1989). Tritrichomonas foetus is a protozoan parasite of the class Tritrichomonadea, which together with Trichomonadea belong to the informal taxonomic group the trichomonads, within the phylum parabasalia (Cepicka et al, 2010; Noda et al, 2012). Tetratrichomonas is a diverse genus within Trichomonadea, which most commonly form symbiotic relationships within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of animals including invertebrates, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds (Cepicka et al, 2006). The genus was originally defined morphologically with characteristics including an ovoid cell body and four anterior flagella of unequal length (Honigberg, 1963). There have been conflicting reports regarding the monophyly of Tetratrichomonas, with some molecular phylogenies placing Trichomonas, Pentatrichomonas and Trichomonoides as ingroups (Cepicka et al, 2006)

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