Prevalence and genetic diversity of Entamoeba species infecting macaques in southwest China

Abstract

Many colonies of macaques (Macaca fascicularis and Macaca mulatta) are maintained in China, especially in Guangxi and Guizhou. A total of 803 fresh stool samples infected with Entamoeba were obtained from three big colonies of macaques located in southwest China. The samples were examined for the presence of five Entamoeba species using PCR. Entamoeba nuttalli, Entamoeba dispar, Entamoeba coli, and Entamoeba chattoni infections were detected, but Entamoeba histolytica infection was not. This study is the first to report on the prevalence of E. nuttalli in wild macaques from China. Eighteen E. nuttalli isolates and five E. dispar isolates were obtained by culturing the samples in Tanabe-Chiba medium. The serine-rich protein (SRP), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), hexokinase (HXK), glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI), and phosphoglucomutase (PGM) genes of E. nuttalli isolates were compared with other reported isolates. The results showed clear differences among the Chinese E. nuttalli isolates and other isolates based on the SRP gene sequences. However, HXK, GPI, and PGM genes of these strains were similar to those of other isolates. The rRNA genes of E. coli and E. chattoni were also amplified and analyzed from these samples. The results suggested that host species might be a more important factor than geographic location in amebic genetic diversity.

Identification of Entamoeba polecki with Unique 18S rRNA Gene Sequences from Celebes Crested Macaques and Pigs in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…We recently reported a high prevalence of E. nuttalli , E. chattoni and E. coli infections in wild macaques, such as rhesus macaques, long‐tailed macaques and Japanese macaques (Feng et al. , ; Tachibana et al. , ).…”

“…We have isolated E. nuttalli strains from rhesus macaque ( Macaca mulatta ), long‐tailed macaque ( Macaca fascicularis ) and Japanese macaque ( Macaca fuscata fuscata ) (Feng et al. ; Suzuki et al. ; Tachibana et al.…”

Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Entamoeba nuttalli Strains Showing Novel Isoenzyme Patterns from Wild Toque Macaques in Sri Lanka

“…To date, we have isolated E. nuttalli from M. mulatta (Feng et al. ; Tachibana et al. , ), Macaca fascicularis (Takano et al.…”

“…Recently, we have shown that E. nuttalli is prevalent even in wild rhesus macaques in China and Nepal (Feng et al. ; Tachibana et al. ).…”

Entamoeba histolytica infections in wild and semi‐wild orangutans in Sumatra and Kalimantan

“…dispar , since they have been identified using only microscopy (Nurcahyo et al, 2017). The majority of studies of Entamoeba species infecting NHPs using molecular techniques have failed to detect E. histolytica , though often they found E. dispar (Feng et al, 2011, 2013; Jirků‐Pomajbíková et al, 2016; Rivera & Kanbara, 1999; Tachibana, Cheng, Kobayashi, Fujita, & Udono, 2000; Tachibana et al, 2001); recently E. histolytica has been identified in baboons, chimpanzees, and gorillas (Deere et al, 2018; Vlčková et al, 2018). Also, Entamoeba nuttalli , was discovered, which is closely related to E. histolytica (Tachibana et al, 2007).…”