Molecular characterization of crane Coccidia, Eimeria gruis and E. reichenowi, found in feces of migratory cranes

Abstract

Eimeria gruis and E. reichenowi have lethal pathogenicity to a number of species of cranes. These parasites develop at multiple organs or tissues in infected cranes, thus lacking the specificity of infection sites shown by other Eimeria spp. in spite of morphologic similarity. To date, there have been many reports of crane Eimeria infections, however, genetic examinations of these parasites have never been published. In the present study, we isolated oocysts of E. gruis and E. reichenowi from crane feces at a wintering area in Japan. By phylogenic analysis, we first demonstrated that partial sequences of the isolates formed their own cluster, located separately from other Eimeria spp.

Genetical identification of coccidia in red-crowned crane, Grus japonensis

“…Two of E. reichenowi type oocysts showed entirely the same sequence of 18S rRNA gene, but two of E. gruis type oocysts showed 5-bp difference from each other. Matsubayashi et al (2005) published partial sequences (349 bp) of 18S rRNA genes of E. reichenowi type and E. gruis type oocysts isolated from G. monacha or G. vipio in Izumi, in the southern island of Japan. When we compared the number of different bases in homologous region (349 bp in length), the sequences of E. reichenowi type in this study differed by 10 bp from those of the respective oocysts in Izumi, and the sequences GA and GC of E. gruis type oocyst differed by 0 and 3 bp from those of the E. gruis type oocyst in Izumi, respectively (Matsubayashi et al 2005).…”

“…Matsubayashi et al (2005) published partial sequences (349 bp) of 18S rRNA genes of E. reichenowi type and E. gruis type oocysts isolated from G. monacha or G. vipio in Izumi, in the southern island of Japan. When we compared the number of different bases in homologous region (349 bp in length), the sequences of E. reichenowi type in this study differed by 10 bp from those of the respective oocysts in Izumi, and the sequences GA and GC of E. gruis type oocyst differed by 0 and 3 bp from those of the E. gruis type oocyst in Izumi, respectively (Matsubayashi et al 2005). It was revealed that E. gruis type oocyst and E. reichenowi type oocyst isolated from G. japonensis in Hokkaido, respectively, were related to the respective type of oocyst isolated from G. monacha or G. vipio in Izumi.…”

“…2). The phylogenetic tree did not include crane coccidia presented by Matsubayashi et al (2005) because they determined only a short length of sequences (349 bp). Crane coccidia formed one clade with the other species of Eimeria.…”

“…Partial 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes (349 bp in length) of two types of oocysts isolated in Izumi were sequenced (Matsubayashi et al 2005). We investigated the morphological and genetic characteristics of coccidian oocysts in crane feces in Hokkaido.…”

Morphological and molecular characterization of Eimeria paludosa coccidian parasite (Apicomplexa:Eimeriidae) in a dusky moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa, Gould, 1846) in Australia

“…Two Eimeria species, Eimeria gruis and Eimeria reichenowi, derived from cranes, have been described in the family Gruidae and both have been extensively characterized genetically (Honma et al, 2007(Honma et al, , 2011Matsubayashi et al, 2005;Novilla and Carpenter, 2004).…”