Molecular characterization and multilocus genotypes of Enterocytozoon bieneusi among horses in southwestern China. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Deng, Lei; Li, Wei; Zhong, Zhijun; Gong, Chao; Liu, Xuehan; Huang, Xiangming; Xiao, Li; Zhao, Ruoxuan; Wang, Wuyou; Feng, Fan; Zhang, Yue; Hu, Yanchun; Fu, Hualin; He, Min; Zhang, Yue; Wu, Kongju; Peng, Guangneng
• Is Part Of: Parasites & vectors. Volume 9:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 6
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Enterocytozoon bieneusi -- ITS gene -- MLST -- Horse -- Zoonotic; Parasitism -- Periodicals; Parasites -- Periodicals; Vector-pathogen relationships -- Periodicals; Animals as carriers of disease -- Periodicals; Insects as carriers of disease -- Periodicals; 616.96
• DOI: 10.1186/s13071-016-1844-3
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-3305

Abstract

Abstract Background Enterocytozoon bieneusi is one of the most prevalent causative species of diarrhea and enteric diseases in various hosts.E. bieneusi has been identified in humans, mammals, birds, rodents and reptiles in China, but few studies have reportedE. bieneusi in horses. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the prevalence, molecular characteristics and zoonotic potential ofE. bieneusi among horses in southwestern China. Findings Three hundred and thirty-three fecal specimens were collected from horses on five farms in the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of southwestern China. The prevalence ofE. bieneusi was 22.5 % (75/333), as determined by nested polymerase chain reaction and sequencing analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal RNA gene ofE. bieneusi . Altogether, 10 genotypes were identified among the 75E. bieneusi -positive samples: four of these genotypes were known (horse1, horse2, SC02 and D) and six were novel (SCH1-4 and YNH1-2). Multilocus sequence typing using three microsatellites (MS1, MS3 and MS7) and one minisatellite (MS4) revealed three, two, three and three genotypes at these four loci, respectively. In phylogenetic analysis, all the genotypes ofE. bieneusi obtained in this study were clustered into three distinct groups: D, SC02 and SCH1-3 were clustered into group 1 (zoonotic potential); SCH4 was clustered into group 2 (cattle-hosted); whereas horse2, YNH1 and YNH2 were clustered into group 6 (unclear zoonotic potential). Conclusions This is the first report ofE. bieneusi among horses in southwestern China. This is also the first multilocus genotyping analysis using microsatellite and minisatellite markers ofE. bieneusi in horses. The presence of genotype D, which was previously identified in humans, and genotypes SC02 and SCH1-3, which belong to potential zoonotic group 1, these results indicate that horses are a potential source of humanE. bieneusi infections in China.