In recent years, an emerging dermocystidiosis caused by Dermocystidium anguillae Spangenberg, 1975 has been found to pose a threat to the culture of American eel, Anguilla rostrata (Lesueur), as well as Chinese perch, Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky), in China. Dermocystidium anguillae was originally described from European eel, Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus), and it is thus important to identify the possible source of this pathogen. In the present study, we compared D. anguillae from European eels cultured in China with those from American eels. Molecular analysis showed that the SSU rDNA of D. anguillae infecting European eels was identical to that of D. anguillae infecting American eels, suggesting their conspecificity. To investigate the source of D. anguillae causing dermocystidiosis in American eels cultured in China, a specific PCR assay for the detection of D. anguillae was developed with high sensitivity (10-6 ng/µl of D. anguillae genomic DNA). Using the present molecular detection method, the water and sediment of culture ponds, fish feed and American eel elvers imported from America were screened for the presence of D. anguillae. No amplicons were detected from the water, sediment and fish feed samples. However, positive amplicons were found in American eel elvers, indicating that D. anguillae has been introduced from American eel elvers to China. It is suggested that American eel elvers imported from America should be examined for the presence of D. anguillae before their exportation abroad to prevent the spread of this pathogen.
We studied diet and prey preferences of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) inhabiting south-east Poland, based on kills found during GPS-GSM telemetry and opportunistic winter tracking. Among 64 lynx kills were roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (91%), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (3%) and brown hare (Lepus europaeus) (6%). From the ungulate community, lynx selected roe deer (D = 0.845) and avoided all other ungulates. We recorded one case of surplus and two cases of parallel killing. Lynx visited the same killed roe deer on average for 2.3 days, and for up to six days when surplus or parallel killing occurred. High numbers of the roe deer in south-east Poland supports the persistence of the lynx, but we urge managers to take under consideration food requirements of the lynx when planning game management.
We aimed to assess the importance of anthropogenic roosts for bats hibernating in the Roztocze National Park (south-east Poland), based on data collected from 2009 to 2021. We recorded 310 bats from nine species hibernating in 27 artificial underground roosts (root cellars and basements of buildings). The most abundant and constantly recorded species were Plecotus auritus (60.2%), Barbastella barbastellus (20.6%) and Myotis nattereri (14.2%), while the remaining species can be considered of secondary importance; Plecotus austriacus (1.3%), Myotis myotis (1.9%), Myotis bechsteinii (1.3%), M. daubentonii (0.3%), Myotis mystacinus sensu lato (0.3%) and Eptesicus serotinus (1.3%). An estimate of the Shannon diversity index gave a mean H = 0.947 (SD = 0.247, range 0.377-1.352), while the Buzas and Gibson´s evenness index gave values of E = 0.695 (SD = 0.125, range 0.551-0.940). The Shannon index was positively correlated with the number of recorded bats and varied substantially among years.
Numerous recent studies show that vitamin D deficiency potentiates various chronic physical and psychiatric disorders and diseases. It has been shown that a similar range of disorders is also associated with latent infection with Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908). For instance, among cancer, diabetes and schizophrenia patients, we find a higher prevalence of both toxoplasmosis and vitamin D deficiency. Theoretically, therefore, vitamin D deficiency could be the missing link between toxoplasmosis and these disorders. We tested this hypothesis by searching for decreased vitamin D levels in the serum of subjects infected with T. gondii (furthermore called Toxoplasma-infected subjects) in two cross-sectional and one case-control study. Results of the first cross-sectional study (N = 72) suggest that Toxoplasma-infected neurasthenic patients have non-significantly lower levels of calcidiol than Toxoplasma-free patients (study A: P = 0.26 in women, P = 0.68 in men). However, two other studies (study B: N = 400; study C: N = 191) showed a non-significantly higher concentration of vitamin D in Toxoplasma-infected subjects than in Toxoplasma-free subjects both in men (study B: P = 0.70, study C: P = 0.55) and in women (study B: P = 0.64, study C: P = 0.12). Taken together, our preliminary results thus do not support the hypothesis that toxoplasmosis could be associated with vitamin D decrease.
We propose a modified and updated protocol to obtain mitotic chromosomes from the regenerated tissue of Pelophylax tadpole tail tips. Chromosomal preparations from regenerated tissue results in high-quality and clean slides suitable for further staining and study. Tadpoles remain alive, undergo minimum suffering, and can be grown to adulthood for further investigation. The method could be used for other groups of Anura and modified for other species with the ability to regenerate their tissues.
The genus Maxvachonia Chabaud et Brygoo, 1960 (Ascaridomorpha: Cosmocercidae) is a poorly known group of parasitic nematodes. Species of Maxvachonia are native to Madagascar-Australo-Papuan Region, where they are known to parasitise frogs, snakes and skinks. Unfortunately, most of Maxvachonia species have been inadequately described. In the present study, we report the native species Maxvachonia chabaudi Mawson, 1972 from the intestine of the invasive marine toad Rhinella marina (Linnaeus) in Australia for the first time. We speculate that the marine toads infected with M. chabaudi are likely related to their eating skinks or the similarity in diet/habitat/ecology between the toad and the skinks. The detailed morphology of M. chabaudi was studied using light microscopy and, for the first time, scanning electron microscopy, based on the newly collected specimens. Some characters important for the specific diagnosis of M. chabaudi are reported for the first time, including each lip with distinct inner flanges, the location of vulva varying from anterior to posterior of the oesophageal bulb and the presence of single medio-ventral precloacal papilla. An identification key to the species of Maxvachonia is provided.
Species of Blastocystis Alexieff, 1911 are anaerobic intestinal protists found in humans and many kinds of animals that mainly cause diarrhea, abdominal pain and other clinical symptoms. At present, data on the prevalence and subtype diversity of species of Blastocystis in domestic rabbits are very limited. The purpose of this study was to characterise the infection rate and gene subtype distribution of Blastocystis sp. in domestic rabbits in Henan Province, Central China, and provide foundation for prevention and control of the disease caused by Blastocystis sp. in domestic rabbits. DNA was extracted from 286 fresh rabbit faecal samples collected from four areas of Henan Province, Central China. All DNA samples were screened using PCR and positive samples were sequenced to identify individual subtypes based on the small ribosomal subunit (SSU rRNA) gene. The overall infection rate of Blastocystis sp. in domestic rabbits in Henan Province was 15% (43/286). Three subtypes were identified, including ST1 (26/43, 60%), ST3 (5/43, 12%) and ST7 (12/43, 28%), all of which belonged to potentially zoonotic subtypes, ST1 was the dominant gene subtype. These results showed that infection with Blastocystis sp. was common in domestic rabbits in Henan Province, Central China, and was represented by zoonotic subtypes. Therefore, special attention should be paid to reduce the risk of transmission of Blastocystis sp. from domestic rabbits to humans.
Apoptosis plays crucial role in the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis, as it limits further development of the disease. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of different concentrations of soluble total antigen (STAg) of Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) on the apoptotic and anti-apoptotic pathways. PMA-activated THP-1 cell line was sensed by T. gondii STAg and the expression patterns of caspase-3, -7, -8, -9, Bax, Bcl-2, and Mcl-1 genes were evaluated. The results showed statistically significant concentration-dependent overexpression of both Bcl-2 (P-value < 0.0001) and Mcl-1 (P-value = 0.0147). The cas-7 showed overexpression in all concentrations (P-value < 0.0001). The cas-3 was suppressed in concentrations 100, 80, and 40 µg, but statistically significant downregulated in concentrations 10 and 20 µg. The Bax was suppressed in concentrations 100 to 20 µg, while it slightly downregulated 1.42 fold (P-value = 0.0029) in concentration 10 µg. The expression of cas-8 and -9 was suppressed in all concentrations. Our results indicated that T. gondii STAg downregulated and suppressed apoptotic and upregulated anti-apoptotic pathways. The upregulation of cas-7 in this study may indicate the role of T. gondii STAg in activation of inflammatory responses.
Stomatocystis goerresi sp. n., a gregarine (phylum Apicomplexa, Monocystidae) parasite of an important invasive earthworm in North America, Amynthas tokioensis (Beddard), is described. This is the second species placed into the genus, and details of its morphology and life cycle support Stomatocystis Bandyopadhyay, Mitra et Göçmen, 2006 as a valid taxon. The new species is described using standard nomenclature, measurements, shape descriptors, and photographs of living cells. The parasite was found only in A. tokioensis, and absent in sympatric earthworm species, suggesting it arrived when the earthworms were introduced from their origin from Japan. The species is distinctive from the type species in the genus, S. indica Bandyopadhyay, Mitra et Göçmen, 2006, in being substantially larger in all stages, found in only the host's seminal vesicles, and found in a different host species from East Asia. The distinctive trophozoites/gamonts develop a large funnel structure ringed with a collar of pronounced ridges, and the funnel appears even in the smallest cells. This funnel varies greatly in relative size (to the cell body) and shape, sometimes forming a large fan. The life cycle of S. goerresi is described including distinctive syzygy in which the funnels fuse and then produce a large cell with local centres of isogamete production (thus sex without gender). Gametes are large ( ~5 μm) spheres with complex tips. Oocyst production is large, > 1,000 per mature gametocyst. The genus Stomatocystis is placed into the Monocystidae, but the life cycle of the new species differs from those of other monocystid taxa, which may mean the Monocystidae are not monophyletic or life cycles are variable within the family. Prevalence of S. goerresi at the type locality was high (~ 90%). The parasites destroy the earthworm's organ of sperm self-storage thus eliminating the male function in the hermaphroditic host which may influence the ability of the earthworm to invade and be successful at new sites
Myxozoan parasites of the genus Kudoa Meglitsch, 1947 are associated with post-mortem tissue degradation that causes great financial losses to commercial fisheries. Kudoa thyrsites (Gilchrist, 1924) is a species with a very wide host range including commercial tunas, mackerels, salmonids and flatfishes. A sample of 190 fishes of 18 species from the Madeira Archipelago and 30 Atlantic chub mackerel, Scomber colias Gmelin, and 30 blue whiting, Micromesistius poutassou (Risso), from the Portuguese mainland coast were examined for the presence of species of Kudoa. The prevalence of Kudoa spp. was 80% in M. poutassou and 60% in S. colias. No spore was detected in S. colias from Madeira, which was confirmed by specific PCR screening of the muscle from all individuals of S. colias. SSU rDNA analysis revealed that M. poutassou and S. colias from the Portuguese mainland coast were infected with K. thyrsites, an economically important myxozoan parasite. Both sequences were identical with sequences of the eastern Atlantic K. thyrsites genotype, including that from the type host of this parasite. This is the first report of K. thyrsites from M. poutassou and S. colias. The fact that spores of species of Kudoa were not detected in fishes screened in the Madeira Archipelago may be explained by various ecological factors, such as the absence of a continental shelf, a short insular shelf, and oceanic waters with low productivity, all resulting in reduced abundance of benthic organisms. Consequently, it is possible that as yet unknown annelid definitive hosts of Kudoa spp. are absent or very rare near Madeiran coasts.