The main aim of the study was to evaluate associations between morphological variability of Trichuris females from sheep and roe deer and their rDNA polymorphism in whipworm populations from the Czech Republic. The results introduced the use of new molecular markers based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1-5.8S RNA-ITS2 region polymorphisms, as useful tools for the unambiguous differentiation of congeners Trichuris ovis and Trichuris discolor. These markers revealed both parasites in roe deer and in sheep; however, T. ovis females predominated in sheep while T. discolor females occurred mostly in roe deer. Additional analysis of ITS1-5.8 rRNA-ITS2 discovered the genetic uniformity of the analysed T. discolor but high haplotype variation of T. ovis. Simultaneously, molecularly designated female individuals of both species were categorised into four morphotypes (MT) on the basis of morphology of genital pore area. MT1 and MT4 (vulvar opening on everted vaginal appendage/on visible cuticular bulge) occurred only in T. ovis, MT2 (uneverted vagina-vulvar opening without any elevation) was identified only in T. discolor and MT3 (transient type of vulvar opening on a small swelling) was observed in both species. Statistical analysis of biometric data confirmed that morphology of vulva is not a reliable marker for the species determination. On the basis of the ITS1-5.8S RNA-ITS2 region variability, we carried out a phylogenetic analysis (maximum likelihood method, Hasegawa-Kishino-Yano model) which showed that T. ovis haplotypes from the Czech Republic and Ireland and T. discolor haplotypes from the Czech Republic, Spain, Iran and Japan are sister OTUs.

Department of Genetics and Breeding Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

Department of Zoology and Fisheries Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

J Parasitol. 2004 Jun;90(3):648-52 PubMed

Acta Trop. 1950;7(2):164-86 PubMed

Acta Trop. 1996 Sep;62(1):15-21 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2008 Dec;104(1):123-6 PubMed

Int J Parasitol. 2009 Sep;39(11):1277-87 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2011 Feb;108(2):337-40 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2010 Sep;107(4):787-94 PubMed

Mitochondrial DNA. 2013 Feb;24(1):50-4 PubMed

J Mol Evol. 1985;22(2):160-74 PubMed

J Parasitol. 1991 Feb;77(1):70-5 PubMed

Vet Parasitol. 2012 May 25;186(3-4):350-63 PubMed

J Parasitol. 1955 Dec;41(6):583-7 PubMed

Exp Parasitol. 1995 Dec;81(4):621-5 PubMed

Syst Biol. 2003 Oct;52(5):696-704 PubMed

Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2014 Feb 15;3(2):209-19 PubMed

Infect Genet Evol. 2015 Aug;34:450-6 PubMed

Acta Trop. 2009 Sep;111(3):299-307 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2013 Mar;112(3):955-60 PubMed

BMC Bioinformatics. 2008 Apr 25;9:212 PubMed

Methods Mol Biol. 2000;132:365-86 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2000 Dec;86(12):1008-13 PubMed

Int J Parasitol. 2004 Apr;34(5):625-31 PubMed

Infect Genet Evol. 2015 Aug;34:61-74 PubMed

Infect Genet Evol. 2012 Dec;12(8):1635-41 PubMed

PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e44187 PubMed

J Parasitol. 1971 Apr;57(2):302-10 PubMed

Z Parasitenkd. 1969;32(4):354-68 PubMed

Syst Biol. 2003 Oct;52(5):674-83 PubMed

Acta Trop. 1984 Sep;41(3):287-92 PubMed

Nat Methods. 2012 Jul 30;9(8):772 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 1978;25(1):31-4 PubMed

Long-term occurrence of Trichuris species in wild ruminants in the Czech Republic