Reduced genetic variability within coding and non-coding regions of the echinococcus multilocularis genome

Echinococcus multilocularis, a vulpine intestinal tapeworm, is the causative agent of alveolar echinococosis in humans, one of the most severe and lethal parasitic infections in man. To date, there is very little knowledge about the genetical polymorphism of this parasite. To assess sequence polymor...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Haag, Karen Luisa, Zaha, Arnaldo, Araujo, Aldo Mellender de, Gottstein, Bruno
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:1997
País:Brasil
Recursos:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFRGS
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:www.lume.ufrgs.br:10183/27470
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10183/27470
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Echinococcus multilocularis
Polimorfismo
Variação genética
SSCP
Strain
Genetic variability
Descrição
Resumo:Echinococcus multilocularis, a vulpine intestinal tapeworm, is the causative agent of alveolar echinococosis in humans, one of the most severe and lethal parasitic infections in man. To date, there is very little knowledge about the genetical polymorphism of this parasite. To assess sequence polymorphism, we analysed a sample of 33 E. multilocularis isolates from Europe, North America and Asia by PCR-SSCP followed by nucleotide sequencing. This assessment was performed comparatively to sheep, cattle and pig E. granulosus strains. Coding (nuclear antigen B and mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase genes) and non-coding (introns of actin and homeobox-containing genes) regions of the parasite genome were chosen as targets. Since the estimated nucleotide diversity among genotypes of E. multilocularis were, in general, 10 times lower than among the recognized different strains of E. granulosus, we suggest that the conventional classi®cation of the former species in 2 separated strains (European and North American) should be reviewed.