Toxoplasma gondii in foxes and rodents from the German Federal States of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt: Seroprevalence and genotypes

Data on the genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii circulating in wildlife are scarce. In the present study, foxes and rodents from two Federal States in Central or Eastern Germany were examined for T. gondii infections. Body fluids were collected at necropsy or fluids were obtained from frozen tissues of n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Veterinary Parasitology
Main Authors: Herrmann, Daland, Maksimov, Pavlo, Maksimov, Aline, Sutor, Astrid Siglinde, Schwarz, Sabine, Jaschke, W., Schliephake, A., Denzin, Nicolai, Conraths, Franz Josef, Schares, Gereon
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2011
Subjects:
Text
ddc:570
Genotyping
RFLP
Foxes
WILDLIFE
Microtus arvalis
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.10.030
https://www.openagrar.de/receive/fimport_mods_00001227
https://www.openagrar.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/Document_derivate_00001533/SD201288.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304401711006893
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Summary:Data on the genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii circulating in wildlife are scarce. In the present study, foxes and rodents from two Federal States in Central or Eastern Germany were examined for T. gondii infections. Body fluids were collected at necropsy or fluids were obtained from frozen tissues of naturally exposed red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), voles (Microtus arvalis), shrews (Neomys anomalus) and a striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) and tested for T. gondii by serology. DNA isolated from tissues of seropositive foxes and all the rodents was examined by PCR. In the German Federal States of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt 152/204 (74.5%) and 149/176 (84.7%) of foxes, respectively, but none of the rodents (0/72) had antibodies to T. gondii. Only 28/152 (18.4%) and 20/149 (13.4%) of seropositive foxes from Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, respectively, but none of the rodents tested PCR-positive for T. gondii. The complete T. gondii genotype could be determined for twelve samples using nine PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) markers (newSAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, PK1, L358 and Apico). In addition to T. gondii clonal type II (Apico II) and type II (Apico I), type III and T. gondii genotypes showing non-canonical allele patterns were observed in foxes. This suggests that, while T. gondii type II prevails in foxes, other genotypes circulate in wildlife. The population structure of T. gondii in Germany may be more diverse than previously thought.

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