Background
Benzimidazole resistance is associated with isotype-1 β-tubulin gene F200Y, E198A and F167Y SNPs. In this study, the recently described polymorphism E198L was reported and analysed in Teladorsagia circumcincta.
Methods
The benzimidazole phenotypic resistance was measured by the faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) and the egg hatch test (EHT) using a discriminating dose (DD) in 39 sheep flocks. Around 1000 larvae collected before and after treatment were used for DNA extraction. The resistant species identified in all flocks was T. circumcincta. The resistance alleles frequencies were measured for F200Y and E198A. A 371-bp fragment of the isotype-1 β-tubulin gene was analysed, including the three codons of interest, and a new pyrosequencing assay was designed for testing E198L.
Results
The percentage of resistant flocks was 35% by FECRT or 26% by EHT; however, F200Y and E198A SNPs were absent in T. circumcincta. The amplification of a 371-bp fragment confirmed the absence of F167Y and F200Y in 6 resistant flocks. Regarding codon 198, all samples after treatment carried a leucine (CTA). A pyrosequencing assay analysed the allele frequencies for the first two bases at codon 198 independently, G/C and A/T. The correlation between C and T frequencies was almost 1 (r = 0.929, P < 0.0001) and the mean value of both was calculated to measure the leucine frequency; this value ranged between 10.4–80.7% before treatment, and 82.3–92.8% after treatment. High and similar correlations were reported between the genotypic variables (C frequency, T frequency or mean of both frequencies) and phenotypic resistance (r > 0.720, P < 0.0001), although negatively associated with the FECRT and positively with the EHT. According to multivariate linear regression analysis, the T frequency was the most significant variable influencing the phenotypic resistance (FECRT or EHT; P < 0.0001). In the EHT, 67.1% of the phenotypic variability is associated with the T frequency but in the FECRT only 33.4%; therefore, the EHT using a DD seems to detect the genotypic resistance more accurately than the FECRT.
Conclusions
The E198L polymorphism can confer BZ resistance on its own in T. circumcincta.
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a major threat to health and welfare in small ruminants worldwide. Teladorsagia circumcincta is a nematode that inhabits the abomasum of sheep, especially in temperate regions, causing important economic losses. Given that T. circumcincta and microbiome share the same niche, interactions between them and the host are expected. Although it is known that within a sheep breed there are animals that are more resistant than others to infection by GIN, it is not known if the microbiome influences the phenotype of these animals. Under this condition, 12 sheep were classified according to their cumulative faecal egg count (cFEC) at the end of a first experimental infection, 6 as resistant group (RG) and 6 as susceptible group (SG) to T. circumcincta infection. Then, all sheep were experimentally infected with 70,000 L3 of T. circumcincta and at day 7 days post-infection were euthanized. At necropsy, gastric mucosa and gastric content from abomasum were collected to extract bacterial DNA and sequence V3-V4 region from 16S rRNA gene using Ilumina technology. After bioanalysis performed, results showed that α-diversity and β-diversity remained similar in both groups. However, resistant phenotype sheep showed a higher number of bacteria butyrate-fermenting species as Clostridium sensu stricto-1 (abundance in RG: 1.29% and in SG: 0.069%; p = 0.05), and Turicibacter (abundance in RG: 0.31% and in SG: 0.027%;p = 0.07) in gastric content but also Serratia spp in gastric mucosa (abundance in RG: 0.12% and in SG: 0.041%; p = 0.07). A trend towards a significant negative correlation between cFEC and Clostridium sensu stricto-1 abundance in gastric content was detected (r = -0.537; p = 0.08). These data suggest that microbiome composition could be another factor that influence in the development of the resistant phenotype modifying the interaction with the host and the in last instance affecting the individual risk of infection.
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a major threat to health and welfare in small ruminants worldwide. Teladorsagia circumcincta is a nematode that inhabits the abomasum of sheep, especially in temperate regions, causing important economic losses. Given that T. circumcincta and microbiome share the same niche, interactions between them and the host are expected. Although it is known that within a sheep breed there are animals that are more resistant than others to infection by GIN, it is not known if the microbiome influences the phenotype of these animals. Under this condition, 12 sheep were classified according to their cumulative faecal egg count (cFEC) at the end of a first experimental infection, 6 as resistant group (RG) and 6 as susceptible group (SG) to T. circumcincta infection. Then, all sheep were experimentally infected with 70,000 L3 of T. circumcincta and at day 7 days post-infection were euthanized. At necropsy, gastric mucosa and gastric content from abomasum were collected to extract bacterial DNA and sequence V3-V4 region from 16S rRNA gene using Ilumina technology. After bioanalysis performed, results showed that α-diversity and β-diversity remained similar in both groups. However, resistant phenotype sheep showed a higher number of bacteria butyrate-fermenting species as Clostridium sensu stricto 1 (abundance in RG: 1.29% and in SG: 0.069%; p = 0.05), and Turicibacter (abundance in RG: 0.31% and in SG: 0.027%; p = 0.07) in gastric content but also Serratia spp in gastric mucosa (abundance in RG: 0.12% and in SG: 0.041%; p = 0.07). A trend towards a significant negative correlation between cFEC and Clostridium sensu stricto 1 abundance in gastric content was detected (r = − 0.537; p = 0.08). These data suggest that microbiome composition could be another factor associated with the development of the resistant phenotype modifying the interaction with the host and the in last instance affecting the individual risk of infection.
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