Occurrence and characterisation of tongue worms, Linguatula spp., in South Africa

Shamsi, Shokoofeh; Halajian, Ali; Barton, Diane P.; Zhu, Xiaocheng; Smit, Willem J.; Roux, Francois; Luus‐Powell, Wilmien J.

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.03.002

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Whether this was due to contamination of the specimen or the sequence or another reason remains unknown. The Cox1 region, however, has shown reasonable diversity between L. serrata and L. arctica (around 10%) in other studies (Shamsi et al 2020a , 2020b ). Unfortunately, despite several attempts by us and then by other researchers, we could not obtain sequences for Cox1 from the L. arctica specimens in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…For the male specimens described by Riley et al ( 1987 ), the posterior hook was not covered in minute spines, although they were present in the hook pit, and there was a row of small spines along the posterior margin of the body annuli. The genital opening for the male L. arctica was found on the second annulus and there did not appear to be a defined annulus running between the anterior and posterior pair of hooks, similar to L. nuttalli Sambon, 1922 (Shamsi et al 2020b ) compared to L. serrata (Shamsi et al 2020a ). The specimens collected from deer in this study were very similar in overall morphology to L. arctica .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Most identifications of pentastomes have been almost exclusively based on morphological and biological characteristics with only a few species subjected to molecular characterization (Kelehear et al 2011 ; Gjerde 2013 ; Barton et al 2019 , 2020 ; Shamsi et al 2020a , 2020b ). Although the number of sequences of Linguatula spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of tongue worms, Linguatula spp. (Pentastomida) in Romania, with the first record of an unknown adult Linguatula from roe deer (Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus)

et al. 2022

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Specimens of the pentastomid parasite, Linguatula serrata, have been reported from several animals in Romania, including some domestic dogs translocated to other parts of Europe. In this study, gray wolves (Canis lupus, n = 80), golden jackals (C. aureus, n = 115), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes, n = 236), and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus, n = 1) were examined for pentastomes. Overall, 17.5% of wolves were found to be infected with specimens of Linguatula, with a range of infections of one to five individuals per animal. Golden jackals and foxes had much lower infection levels, with 1.73% of golden jackals and 1.69% of foxes infected; both host species were found to be infected with one or two individual pentastomes per animal. The single deer specimen was infected with three individual pentastomes. The pentastomes collected from the wolves and golden jackals were determined to be immature and mature adult specimens of L. serrata based on morphological examination and molecular analysis using the 18S rRNA gene. No pentastomes collected from the red foxes were available for identification. The pentastomes collected from the roe deer were expected to be L. arctica but determined to be mature adult male specimens of an unknown Linguatula, herein, referred to as Linguatula sp. based on its morphology; the results of molecular sequencing for the Linguatula specimen collected from the deer were inconclusive, preventing a final species identification. This study presents the first report of L. serrata in any hosts from Romania through both morphological and molecular characterization, and also presents the first report of a Linguatula sp. in Ca. capreolus, utilizing morphological characterization. Issues of morphological variability are discussed, including the presence of spines in the hook pit of specimens of Linguatula. This study highlights the need to examine all specimens of Linguatula to confirm the stage of development. Despite the inconclusive molecular result for some specimens, the authors still urge future researchers to incorporate a combined molecular and morphological approach in identifying specimens of Linguatula.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

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Characterization of tongue worms, Linguatula spp. (Pentastomida) in Romania, with the first record of an unknown adult Linguatula from roe deer (Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus)

et al. 2022

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“…Linguatula spp., belonging to the Pentastomida, are obligatory arthropod parasites which have an indirect life cycle. When adult, they inhabit the nasal cavity of their definitive hosts, which usually is a carnivorous mammal, such as a canid (Shamsi et al 2017b) or a felid (Shamsi et al 2020b). They produce eggs which are expelled to the environment through faeces or nasal discharge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in a study on pentastomid nymphs collected from herbivores in Iran, partial sequences of 18S rRNA were used to assign them to L. serrata (Ghorashi et al 2016). In a latter study (Shamsi et al 2020b), sequences of these pentastomid nymphs formed a group distinct from L. serrata reported in Europe, suggesting that they belong to a different, as yet unknown, species. Although adult Linguatula have been collected from dogs in Iran, there has been no morphological description of adult Linguatula in the country to confirm the specific identity and taxonomic status of the parasite in Iran.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

28S rRNA sequences for Linguatula spp.

et al. 2022

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Identification of specimens belonging to the genus Linguatula (Pentastomida) is relatively easy due to their unique morphology. However, differentiation between species of Linguatula can be challenging for several reasons, including considerable differences between different developmental stages of the parasite within and between species. Currently, 18S rRNA and Cox1 sequences are the only available comparable sequences in GenBank, but recent research has discussed the utility of 28S rRNA for pentastomid phylogenetics. This study presents 28S rRNA gene sequences for two members of the genus Linguatula. Sequences of 28S rRNA were successfully obtained from well-identified samples of L.serrata (collected in Australia) and L.nuttalli (collected in South Africa), with voucher specimens. Phylogenetic analysis of the 28S rRNA region showed 6% difference between L.serrata and L.nuttalli, with low levels of intraspecific variation. In comparison, 18S rRNA and Cox1 sequences from the same specimens showed 0.23% and 13% interspecific differences, respectively. The results of this study show that 28S rRNA has greater genetic diversity to allow for improved differentiation between species of Linguatula than 18S rRNA but is on par with Cox1. Records that do not provide adequate morphological or molecular data to justify independent specific diagnoses must be regarded cautiously, and the need for continued research on species of Linguatula, using a combined morphological and molecular analysis, across a number of different hosts, development stages, geographical regions and molecular markers is highlighted.

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Global status of neglected human Linguatula infection: a systematic review of published case reports

et al. 2021

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Occurrence and characterisation of tongue worms, Linguatula spp., in South Africa

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Characterization of tongue worms, Linguatula spp. (Pentastomida) in Romania, with the first record of an unknown adult Linguatula from roe deer (Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus)

Characterization of tongue worms, Linguatula spp. (Pentastomida) in Romania, with the first record of an unknown adult Linguatula from roe deer (Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus)

28S rRNA sequences for Linguatula spp.

Global status of neglected human Linguatula infection: a systematic review of published case reports

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