Titel (eng)

Development of Highly Efficient Universal Pneumocystis Primers and Their Application in Investigating the Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Pneumocystis in Wild Hares and Rabbits

Autor*in

Liang Ma   National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Joseph A. Kovacs   National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Jamie L. Rothenburger   University of Calgary

Ousmane H. Cisse   National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Christiane Weissenbacher-Lang   University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Patrizia Danesi   Istituto Zooprofilattico delle Venezie

Barbara Blasi   University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Isabella Lin   National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Summer T. Hunter   University of Calgary

Verlag

MDPI

Beschreibung (eng)

Despite its ubiquitous infectivity to mammals with strong host specificity, our current knowledge about Pneumocystis has originated from studies of merely 4% of extant mammalian species. Further studies of Pneumocystis epidemiology across a broader range of animal species require the use of assays with high sensitivity and specificity. To this end, we have developed multiple universal Pneumocystis primers targeting different genetic loci with high amplification efficiency. Application of these primers to PCR investigation of Pneumocystis in free-living hares (Lepus townsendii, n = 130) and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus, n = 8) in Canada revealed a prevalence of 81% (105/130) and 25% (2/8), respectively. Genotyping analysis identified five and two variants of Pneumocystis from hares and rabbits, respectively, with significant sequence divergence between the variants from hares. Based on phylogenetic analysis using nearly full-length sequences of the mitochondrial genome, nuclear rRNA operon and dihydropteroate synthase gene for the two most common variants, Pneumocystis in hares and rabbits are more closely related to each other than either are to Pneumocystis in other mammals. Furthermore, Pneumocystis in both hares and rabbits are more closely related to Pneumocystis in primates and dogs than to Pneumocystis in rodents. The high prevalence of Pneumocystis in hares (P. sp. 'townsendii') suggests its widespread transmissibility in the natural environment, similar to P. oryctolagi in rabbits. The presence of multiple distinct Pneumocystis populations in hares contrasts with the lack of apparent intra-species heterogeneity in P. oryctolagi, implying a unique evolution history of P. sp. 'townsendii' in hares.

Sprache des Objekts

Englisch

Datum

2024

Rechte

Dieses Werk bzw. dieser Inhalt steht unter einer
CC BY 4.0 - Creative Commons Namensnennung 4.0 International Lizenz.

CC BY 4.0 International

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Klassifikation

Serial-Thin Sections; 3-Dimensional Reconstruction; Dihydropteroate Synthase; Dihydrofolate-Reductase; Mitochondrial Genomes; Phylogenetic Analysis; Carinii Infection; Dna; Rats; Transmission

Mitglied in der/den Collection(s) (1)