Molecular characterization of microsporidia indicates that wild mammals Harbor host-adapted Enterocytozoon spp. as well as human-pathogenic Enterocytozoon bieneusi.

ABSTRACT: Over 13 months, 465 beavers, foxes, muskrats, otters, and raccoons were trapped in four counties in eastern Maryland and examined by molecular methods for microsporidia. A two-step nested PCR protocol was developed to amplify a 392-bp fragment of the internal transcribed spacer region of the rRNA gene of Enterocytozoon spp., with the use of primers complementary to the conserved regions of published nucleotide sequences. Fifty-nine PCR-positive samples were sequenced. Multiple alignments of these sequences identified 17 genotypes of Enterocytozoon spp. (WL1 to WL17); of these, 15 have not been reported before. Most of the genotypes were found in multiple species of wildlife and belonged to a major group consisting of all the previously described Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotypes from human

SUBMITTER: Sulaiman IM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC169096 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature