Comparative analysis of mitochondrial DNA datasets indicates that Toxascaris leonina represents a species complex

• DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3447-2
• Publication Date: 2019-05-02T14:04:23Z
• Authors: Yuan-Chun Jin; Xiang-Yong Li; Jin-Hui Liu; Xing-Quan Zhu; Guo-Hua Liu
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Short Report; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; DNA, Mitochondrial; Gene; Toxascaris; Global Impact of Helminth Infections and Control Strategies; Species complex; Ecological Interactions of Parasites in Ecosystems; 03 medical and health sciences; Dogs; Mitochondrial genome; Genetics; Animals; Toxascaris leonina; Dog Diseases; Biology; Phylogenetic analyses; Phylogeny; Nematode; Toxascariasis; Immunology and Microbiology; Ecology; Zoonotic Transmission; Cheetah; Life Sciences; DNA, Helminth; Mitochondrial DNA; Phylogenetics; Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Parasitic Diseases; FOS: Biological sciences; Genome, Mitochondrial; Environmental Science; Physical Sciences; Parasitology; Acinonyx; Zoology; Phylogenetic tree

Toxascaris leonina is one of the most common intestinal parasites canids and felids. In this study, we characterised entire mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence T. from cheetah compared it with that dog. The mt 14,685 bp in size, which 375 longer than dog, 408 South China tiger. overall nucleotide (except for non-coding region) identity was 92.8% between two genomes For 12 protein-coding genes, difference dog 5.0–9.7% at level 1.0–7.2% amino acid level. Moreover, comparison cox1 sequences among isolates (n = 23) different hosts revealed substantial differences (10.6%). Phylogenetic analysis showed separation canid felid into three distinct clades. Taken together, these mtDNA datasets indicate represents a species complex. Our results have implications further studies molecular epidemiology, systematics population genetics nematode.