Definitive Hosts of Versteria Tapeworms (Cestoda: Taeniidae) Causing Fatal Infection in North America.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lee LM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4806962 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Tapeworms of the genus Ophiotaenia La Rue, 1911 parasitize herptiles (= amphibians and 'reptiles') throughout the world, with about 100 species recognised as valid. In the present work, the North American species found in watersnakes (Colubridae) are reviewed. An examination of the holotype of Ophiotaenia perspicua La Rue, 1911, the type species of the genus, and other specimens from Nerodia rhombifer (Hallowell) revealed that two species were used for the species description. The 'true' O. perspicua has a small scolex and small, round suckers. This species is redescribed based on new material from Oklahoma, USA. The other species from N. rhombifer, Ophiotaenia laruei n. sp., has a larger scolex and larger, almost triangular suckers. Examination of the types of O. variabilis (Brooks, 1978) from N. rhombifer and N. cyclopion (Duméril, Bibron et Duméril) from Louisiana, USA has revealed that it is a mixture of two or more species. Because of poor quality of these specimens, it is not possible to adequately characterise O. variabilis, which is considered a species inquirenda. In addition, two new species are described from Nerodia fasciata confluens (Blanchard). Ophiotaenia currani n. sp. from Mississippi, USA is characterised by elongate, narrow proglottids, few testes, and a relatively long cirrus sac. Ophiotaenia tkachi n. sp. from Louisiana, USA is characterised by relatively short and wide proglottids, more testes, and an unusual terminal part of the vagina with folds. Morphologically similar tapeworms of N. fasciata confluens, N. erythrogaster (Förster), N. sipedon (Linnaeus), and Agkistrodon piscivorus (Lacépède) (Viperidae) from Arkansas and Oklahoma, USA, which are genetically nearly identical, are considered to be conspecific with O. tkachi n. sp. The present data suggest a high, previously undescribed species diversity of proteocephalid tapeworms in watersnakes in North America, and generally strict host specificity of these tapeworms.
| S-EPMC10724698 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Using morphological and molecular studies, the life cycle of Versteria cuja (Cestoda: Taeniidae) was elucidated, involving subterranean rodents (Ctenomyidae) as intermediate hosts, and the lesser grison, Galictis cuja (Mustelidae), as definitive host. Metacestodes (cysticerci and polycephalic larvae) were found mainly in the liver but also in spleen, pancreas, lungs and small intestine of 2 species of tuco-tucos (Ctenomys spp.) from Chubut, Argentina. Identity of the metacestodes with the adult was based primarily on the number, size and shape of rostellar hooks: 40–48 hooks in 2 rows, particularly small (10–16 μm total length by 6–10 μm wide), composed of handle, blade and guard with characteristic shapes. Genetic analysis (cox1 gen mtDNA) performed on metacestodes from both intermediate hosts corroborated their conspecificity with adults of V. cuja from lesser grisons in the same locality. Histopathological study showed the hepatic parenchyma altered by the presence of cysts containing larvae, each surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue with inflammatory infiltrate, atrophied hepatocytes and an increase of bile ducts. In the lung, in addition to the cysts, dilated alveoli, oedema and hyperaemic blood vessels were observed. This is the first report of a natural life cycle of a Versteria species from South America. It shows strong similarities with that described for a North American zoonotic lineage of Versteria, confirming a close relationship between V. cuja and this North American lineage, as previously demonstrated by molecular studies. Consequently, the zoonotic potential of V. cuja should not be disregarded.
| S-EPMC10260299 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Via morphological and molecular analysis, we describe a new species of taeniid from Patagonia (Argentina): Versteria cuja n. sp., parasitizing the Lesser grison Galictis cuja (Molina) (Carnivora: Mustelidae). This is the first report of a species of Versteria in Argentina and for a native mustelid. The new species (the third in the genus Versteria) is proposed using an integrative taxonomic approach, based on traditional morphology (distinctive morphological and morphometric diagnostic characters), genetic distances and phylogeny based on molecular data, the distinct geographical distribution, and the different definitive host species. Versteria cuja n. sp. mainly differs from Versteria mustelae (Gmelin, 1790) (from Europe) in the number of testes (54-85 vs. 83-127 in V. mustelae), the rostellum size (39-75 vs. 85-180 μm in V. mustelae), the genital atrium size (170-420 vs. 68-91 μm in V. mustelae) and in the hooks' shape. It also differs from the African species Versteria brachyacantha (Baer and Fain, 1951) by having smaller measurements regarding the main diagnostic characters, i.e. size of scolex, rostellum and suckers, number, size and shape of rostellar hooks, number of testes, and by having smooth cirrus (vs. cirrus covered with hair-like bristles in V. brachyacantha). Phylogenetical analysis using cox1 showed our specimens clustering with North American isolates of Versteria sp. in a well-supported American clade (mean genetic divergence 0.024), separated from another clade composed of different isolates of V. mustelae (0.093). The close relationship between the new species and the North American species, known as "zoonotic" Versteria sp., and responsible for fatal infections by metacestodes in free-ranging wildlife (rodents), captive primates and immunosuppressed people, lead us to think that the zoonotic potential of Versteria cuja n. sp. should not be discarded.
| S-EPMC9420342 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A checklist of tapeworms (Cestoda) of vertebrates (fishes, birds and mammals) in Finland is presented, based on published observations, specimens deposited in the collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History (Helsinki) and the Zoological Museum of the University of Turku, and additional specimens identified by the present author. The checklist includes 170 tapeworm species from 151 host species, comprising 447 parasite species/host species combinations. Thirty of the tapeworm species and 96 of the parasite/host species combinations have not been previously reported from Finland. The total number of tapeworm species in Finland (170 spp.) is significantly lower than the corresponding figure for the Iberian Peninsula (257 spp.), Slovakia (225 spp.) and Poland (279 spp.). The difference between Finland and the other three regions is particularly pronounced for anseriform, podicipediform, charadriiform and passeriform birds, reflecting inadequate and/or biased sampling of these birds in Finland. It is predicted that there are actually ca. 270 species of tapeworms in Finland, assuming that true number of bird tapeworms in Finland corresponds to that in other European countries with more comprehensive knowledge of the local tapeworm fauna. The other main pattern emerging from the present data is the seemingly unexplained absence in (northern) Fennoscandia of several mammalian tapeworms that otherwise have extensive distributions in the Holarctic region or in Eurasia, including the northern regions. Previously unknown type specimens, that is, the holotype of Bothrimonus nylandicus Schneider, 1902 (a junior synonym of Diplocotyle olrikii Krabbe, 1874) (MZH 127096) and the syntypes of Caryophyllaeides fennica (Schneider, 1902) (MZH 127097) were located in the collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History.
| S-EPMC4669923 | biostudies-other
Project description:The specific identification of broad tapeworms (genus Diphyllobothrium) infecting humans is very difficult to perform by morphological observation. Molecular analysis by PCR and sequencing represents the only reliable tool to date to identify these parasites to the species level. Due to the recent spread of human diphyllobothriosis in several countries, a correct diagnosis has become crucial to better understand the distribution and the life cycle of human-infecting species as well as to prevent the introduction of parasites to disease-free water systems. Nevertheless, PCR and sequencing, although highly precise, are too complicated, long, and expensive to be employed in medical laboratories for routine diagnostics. In the present study we optimized a cheap and rapid molecular test for the differential identification of the most common Diphyllobothrium species infecting humans (D. latum, D. dendriticum, D. nihonkaiense, and D. pacificum), based on a multiplex PCR with the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene of mitochondrial DNA.
| S-EPMC2937707 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The caryophyllidean genus Archigetes Leuckart, 1878 is unique among all tapeworms in that its species can mature in invertebrate hosts (Oligochaeta), i.e., have a monoxenic (direct) life cycle. All five species were described as progenetic plerocercoids in oligochaetes and two of them also as adults from cypriniform fishes. Two species, A. sieboldi Leuckart, 1878 and A. iowensis Calentine, 1962, were found in North America in non-native common carp (Cyprinus carpio). A molecular study of caryophyllideans from the southern United States has revealed the occurrence of three new species in native freshwater fishes (Catostomidae, Ictiobinae): Archigetes loculotruncatus n. sp. from Ictiobus bubalus, I. niger and Carpiodes cyprinus is the largest representative of the genus and differs by a loculotruncate scolex. Archigetes megacephalus n. sp. from Ictiobus niger, I. bubalus and I. cyprinellus is characterised by a prominent, bothrioloculodiscate scolex. Archigetes vadosus n. sp. from I. bubalus is typified by a globular scolex with very shallow loculi; it differs from the closely related A. sieboldi in the shape of the body, with a distinct neck region and a scolex wider than the remaining body. Archigetes iowensis Calentine, 1962 becomes a junior synonym of Paraglaridacris limnodrili (Yamaguti, 1934). The generic diagnosis of Archigetes is amended and a key to identification of North American taxa is provided. Species of Archigetes and Paraglaridacris differ from each other most conspicuously in the structure of the ovary, which is follicular in Archigetes versus compact in Paraglaridacris.
| S-EPMC8826581 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A captive juvenile Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) died from an unknown disseminated parasitic infection. Deep sequencing of DNA from infected tissues, followed by gene-specific PCR and sequencing, revealed a divergent species within the newly proposed genus Versteria (Cestoda: Taeniidae). Versteria may represent a previously unrecognized risk to primate health.
| S-EPMC3884733 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe systematic of several marine diphyllobothriid tapeworms of pinnipeds has been revised in recent years. However, 20 species of Diphyllobothrium from phocids and otariids are still recognized as incertae sedis. We describe a new species of Diphyllobothrium from the intestine of California sea lions Zalophus californianus (Lesson) (type-host) and South American sea lions Otaria flavescens (Shaw).MethodsZalophus californianus from the Pacific coast of the USA and O. flavescens from Peru and Argentina were screened for parasites. Partial fragments of the large ribosomal subunit gene (lsrDNA) and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) mitochondrial gene were amplified for 22 isolates. Properly fixed material from California sea lions was examined using light and scanning electron microscopy.ResultsA total of four lsrDNA and 21 cox1 sequences were generated and aligned with published sequences of other diphyllobothriid taxa. Based on cox1 sequences, four diphyllobothriid tapeworms from O. flavescens in Peru were found to be conspecific with Adenocephalus pacificus Nybelin, 1931. The other newly generated sequences fall into a well-supported clade with sequences of a putative new species previously identified as Diphyllobothrium sp. 1. from Z. californianus and O. flavescens. A new species, Diphyllobothrium sprakeri n. sp., is proposed for tapeworms of this clade.ConclusionsDiphyllobothrium sprakeri n. sp. is the first diphyllobothriid species described from Z. californianus from the Pacific coast of North America, but O. flavescens from Argentina, Chile and Peru was confirmed as an additional host. The present study molecularly confirmed the first coinfection of two diphyllobothriid species in sea lions from the Southern Hemisphere.
| S-EPMC8063393 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Gyrocotylideans are evolutionary ancient parasitic flatworms, and like their hosts-a relict group of holocephalan fishes (Chimaeriformes)-they are considered to be "living fossils" of a vanished past. However, the species diversity, host associations and biogeography of these most basal tapeworms are poorly known. Herein, we provide evidence of a conspicuous contrast between the genetic and morphological data based on an examination of newly collected and properly processed Gyrocotyle specimens (hologenophores) isolated from holocephalans off Taiwan and Argentina. Our molecular data, inferred from three genes (COI, 28S rRNA, 18S rRNA), showed unexpected genetic interrelationships among isolates of the genus Gyrocotyle, because each of the four genotypes from Taiwan clustered with isolates of distinct gyrocotylideans from the North Atlantic. Three genotypes of Gyrocotyle from Taiwan were morphologically almost indistinguishable from each other but represented distinct genetic lineages; a single specimen of Gyrocotyle sp. genotype 4 exhibited a clear genetic and morphological distinctness, though its formal description as a new species would be premature. Additionally, specimens of Gyrocotyle rugosa Diesing, 1850, from the type host Callorhinchus callorynchus from Argentina, provided the first genetic data on the type species of the genus and enabled us to characterise it, which is necessary for future taxonomic studies. The finding of some specimens of Gyrocotyle sp. genotype 3 in Chimaera phantasma, and another one in C. cf. argiloba, together with the putative conspecificity of an unidentified gyrocotylidean from Callorhinchus milii off Australia and G. rugosa from C. callorynchus off Argentina, represent evidence that one gyrocotylidean species may parasitise more than one holocephalan host species. Existing taxonomic problems and conflicts between morphological and molecular data on species of Gyrocotyle can only be resolved if hologenophores from type hosts and localities of nominal taxa are properly characterised genetically and morphologically.
| S-EPMC7970904 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Synoptic data and an understanding of helminth parasite diversity among diverse rodent assemblages across temperate latitudes of North America remain remarkably incomplete. Renewed attention to comprehensive survey and inventory to establish the structure of biodiverse faunas is essential in providing indicators and proxies for identifying the outcomes of accelerating change linked to climate warming and anthropogenic forcing. Subsequent to the description of Hymenolepis folkertsi in the oldfield mouse, Peromyscus polionotus, additional specimens of hymenolepidids were collected or discovered in archived museum repositories from multiple species of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus, Peromyscus leucopus), the golden mouse (Ochrotomys nuttalli), chipmunks (Tamias striatus, Tamias amoenus), the 13-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), and tree squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus niger) from disjunct localities in the USA spanning southern Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and central Idaho. Specimens were largely consistent morphologically with the original description of H. folkertsi. Initial DNA sequence data, from a portion of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1, demonstrated intraspecific variation among three apparently geographically isolated populations attributed to H. folkertsi (uncorrected genetic distances of 2.7 % (Idaho and Michigan), 2.4 % (Virginia + Pennsylvania and Michigan), and 1.89 % (VA + PA and ID). Geography rather than host association explains the distribution and occurrence of H. folkertsi, and host colonization among deer mice, chipmunks, and other sciurids within regional sites is indicated. Genetic divergence revealed across localities for H. folkertsi suggests historically isolated populations, consistent with extended evolutionary and biogeographic trajectories among hymenolepidids and species of Peromyscus and Tamias in North America. Field inventory, that revealed these parasite populations, substantially alters our understanding of the distribution of diversity and provides insights about the nature of the complex relationships that serve to determine cestode faunas in rodents.
| S-EPMC5104796 | biostudies-literature