Haplotypic analysis of cox1 from Toxocara canis demonstrates five distinct clades that are not geographically defined
Date
2023-10-25
Authors
Martin, Katy A.
Chelladurai, Jeba R. J. Jesudoss
Bsrat, Abrha
Pulaski, Cassan
Lee, Alice C. Y.
Starkey, Lindsay A.
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
Background
Toxocara canis is a cosmopolitan parasite of dogs that is transmitted transplacentally to puppies resulting in widespread shedding of eggs in the environment. However, it is not clear if there are dominant parasite genotypes that are more common, pathogenic, or likely to be zoonotic.
Methods/principle findings
Sequences of mitochondrial cox1 gene from adult worms were used to compare parasites from the United States with submitted sequences from parasites isolated from dogs in different countries. Our analysis revealed at least 55 haplotypes. While we expected the North American worms to form a distinct cluster, we found haplotypes of T. canis reported elsewhere existing in this population. Interestingly, combining the sequence data from our study with the available GenBank data, analysis of cox1 sequences results in five distinct clades that are not geographically defined.
Conclusions
The five clades of T. canis revealed in this study potentially have unique life histories, traits, or host preferences. Additional investigation is needed to see if these distinct clades represent cryptic species with clinically useful attributes or genotypes with taxonomic value. Evaluation of common mitochondrial genes may reveal distinct populations of zoonotic T. canis.
Series Number
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Academic or Administrative Unit
Type
article
Comments
This article is published as Martin, Katy A., Jeba RJ Jesudoss Chelladurai, Abrha Bsrat, Cassan Pulaski, Alice CY Lee, Lindsay A. Starkey, and Matthew T. Brewer. "Haplotypic analysis of cox1 from Toxocara canis demonstrates five distinct clades that are not geographically defined." PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 17, no. 10 (2023): e0011665. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011665. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.