Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards
SIMPLE SUMMARY: Small mammals not only play an important role in ecosystems, but they also can transmit a wide range of pathogens to humans and domestic animals. The data on protozoan Sarcocystis parasites in orchard-dwelling small mammals are still scarce. Members of the genus Sarcocystis form sarc...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:10339949 2023-07-30T04:04:56+02:00 Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards Prakas, Petras Stirkė, Vitalijus Šneideris, Donatas Rakauskaitė, Paulina Butkauskas, Dalius Balčiauskas, Linas 2023-06-23 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10339949/ https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132087 en eng MDPI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10339949/ http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13132087 © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Animals (Basel) Article Text 2023 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132087 2023-07-16T01:10:29Z SIMPLE SUMMARY: Small mammals not only play an important role in ecosystems, but they also can transmit a wide range of pathogens to humans and domestic animals. The data on protozoan Sarcocystis parasites in orchard-dwelling small mammals are still scarce. Members of the genus Sarcocystis form sarcocysts in the muscles of intermediate hosts and develop sporocysts in the intestines of definitive hosts. In the present study, 679 muscle samples of small mammals, collected in commercial orchards and berry plantations in Lithuania, were screened for Sarcocystis parasites via DNA analysis. The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. was low as only nine pooled muscle samples were found to contain the parasites examined. Four species were identified in the examined small mammals, including two potentially new Sarcocystis species that were detected in the muscles of voles. The phylogenetic results suggested that birds and mammals are the definitive hosts of the Sarcocystis spp. identified in the current study. ABSTRACT: Small mammals are an important group of wildlife that can transmit pathogens to humans and animals. There is a lack of comprehensive studies on the protozoan parasites of the genus Sarcocystis in agricultural areas. The aim of the current research was to evaluate the prevalence of Sarcocystis spp., and to identify the parasite species found in the skeletal muscles of rodents and insectivores from commercial orchards. A total of 679 muscle samples from small mammals, mainly rodents (n = 674), belonging to eight species were examined. Muscle samples were pooled into groups, then digested, and the presence of the Sarcocystis species was confirmed by molecular methods. The examined parasites were determined in five rodent species, Apodemus agrarius, A. flavicollis, Clethrionomys glareolus, Microtus arvalis, and M. oeconomus. The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. was low: 2.23% in voles and 0.79% in mice. Based on a sequence comparison of cox1 and 28S rDNA, four species were identified: S. myodes, Sarcocystis cf. ... Text Microtus arvalis PubMed Central (PMC) Animals 13 13 2087 |
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Article Prakas, Petras Stirkė, Vitalijus Šneideris, Donatas Rakauskaitė, Paulina Butkauskas, Dalius Balčiauskas, Linas Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards |
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description |
SIMPLE SUMMARY: Small mammals not only play an important role in ecosystems, but they also can transmit a wide range of pathogens to humans and domestic animals. The data on protozoan Sarcocystis parasites in orchard-dwelling small mammals are still scarce. Members of the genus Sarcocystis form sarcocysts in the muscles of intermediate hosts and develop sporocysts in the intestines of definitive hosts. In the present study, 679 muscle samples of small mammals, collected in commercial orchards and berry plantations in Lithuania, were screened for Sarcocystis parasites via DNA analysis. The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. was low as only nine pooled muscle samples were found to contain the parasites examined. Four species were identified in the examined small mammals, including two potentially new Sarcocystis species that were detected in the muscles of voles. The phylogenetic results suggested that birds and mammals are the definitive hosts of the Sarcocystis spp. identified in the current study. ABSTRACT: Small mammals are an important group of wildlife that can transmit pathogens to humans and animals. There is a lack of comprehensive studies on the protozoan parasites of the genus Sarcocystis in agricultural areas. The aim of the current research was to evaluate the prevalence of Sarcocystis spp., and to identify the parasite species found in the skeletal muscles of rodents and insectivores from commercial orchards. A total of 679 muscle samples from small mammals, mainly rodents (n = 674), belonging to eight species were examined. Muscle samples were pooled into groups, then digested, and the presence of the Sarcocystis species was confirmed by molecular methods. The examined parasites were determined in five rodent species, Apodemus agrarius, A. flavicollis, Clethrionomys glareolus, Microtus arvalis, and M. oeconomus. The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. was low: 2.23% in voles and 0.79% in mice. Based on a sequence comparison of cox1 and 28S rDNA, four species were identified: S. myodes, Sarcocystis cf. ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Prakas, Petras Stirkė, Vitalijus Šneideris, Donatas Rakauskaitė, Paulina Butkauskas, Dalius Balčiauskas, Linas |
author_facet |
Prakas, Petras Stirkė, Vitalijus Šneideris, Donatas Rakauskaitė, Paulina Butkauskas, Dalius Balčiauskas, Linas |
author_sort |
Prakas, Petras |
title |
Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards |
title_short |
Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards |
title_full |
Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards |
title_fullStr |
Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards |
title_full_unstemmed |
Protozoan Parasites of Sarcocystis spp. in Rodents from Commercial Orchards |
title_sort |
protozoan parasites of sarcocystis spp. in rodents from commercial orchards |
publisher |
MDPI |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10339949/ https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132087 |
genre |
Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Microtus arvalis |
op_source |
Animals (Basel) |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10339949/ http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13132087 |
op_rights |
© 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132087 |
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Animals |
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13 |
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2087 |
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1772816586582786048 |