Morphologic, Morphometric and Molecular Comparison of Two Sister Species of Rodents as Potential Reservoir Hosts of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the Southwest of Iran

• Main Authors: Seyedeh Maryam Ghafari, Vahoora Ebadatgar, Somayeh Mohammadi, Sahar Ebrahimi, Ali Bordbar, Parviz Parvizi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Pasteur Institute of Iran 2019
• Subjects: morphology; cytochrome b; rattus rattus; rattus norvegicus; Pathology; RB1-214; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/4016851012704cc5a9c6c2f4b5cf7dd1

Introduction: Rodents are reservoir hosts of various infectious diseases. Many species and subspecies of genus Rattus play a significant role as potential reservoir hosts of different emerging and re-emerging diseases, including leishmaniasis. Methods: Rodents were captured using live wooden traps from different localities of Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran. To precise identification of two sister species of rats, including Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus, morphological, molecular, and biosystematics characters were examined using amplification of mitochondrial Cytochrome b (Cytb) gene fragment. Results: Out of 119 captured rodents, 44 were R. rattus, 12 were R. norvegicus, and 63 belonged to other species (Tatera indica, Nesokia indica, Mus musculus). Partial Cyt b gene (≤624 bp) was amplified to characterize R. rattus and R. norvegicus, accurately. Three haplotypes of R. rattus (six samples) and a unique haplotype of R. norvegicus (three samples) were identified with some nucleotide variations. Conclusion: Mitochondrial results confirmed morphological disparity between the two Rattus species in Khuzestan Province. Therefore, we recommend applying an integrative approach to identify host reservoirs for infectious diseases, especially those suspected as reservoirs of cutaneous Leishmaniasis.