CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES ›› 2023, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (2): 245-248.doi: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2023.02.021

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Investigation of Blastocystis spp. infection in stray dogs and cats and the parasite genotyping in Zhangzhou, Fujian

LI Yongxia1,2(), LI Mengrui1,2, LI Shiyi1,2, HUANG Xiaohang1,2, WU Wei1,3, HUANG Zhijian1,2, YIN Guangwen1,2,*()   

  1. 1 College of Animal Sciences(College of Bee Science), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University,Fuzhou 350002, China
    2 Fujian Animal Drug Engineering Laboratory, Fuzhou 350002, China
    3 Zhangzhou Kangde Pet Hospital, Zhangzhou 363100, Fujian, China
  • Received:2022-07-05 Revised:2022-10-07 Online:2023-04-23 Published:2023-04-23
  • Contact: YIN Guangwen E-mail:liyx_000@163.com;yinguangwen000@sina.com
  • Supported by:
    Supported by Cross-sectional Project-Investigation on the Infection of Ticks and Feas in Dogs and Detection of Drug Treatment Effect in Fujian Province(CZ2020107)

Abstract:

To investigate the prevalence of Blastocystis infections among dogs and cats at stray animal shelters in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, fecal samples were collected from rescued dogs and cats in Zhangzhou City, and DNA was extracted. Blastocystis ribosomal small subunit RNA (SSU rRNA) was used as a primer for PCR amplification. The positive samples were sent for Sanger sequencing, followed by BLAST sequence alignment analysis using the GenBank public database resources. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA 7.0 software. A total of 121 cat fecal samples and 119 dog fecal samples were collected. PCR test showed that the Blastocystis positivity rate of 5.04% (6/119) in dogs and 0.82% (1/121) in cats. The difference between dogs and cats was statistically significant (χ2 = 4.153, P < 0.05). Only one fecal sample from a dog was successfully sequenced by PCR amplification of the SSU rRNA gene, yielding the YN-145 sequence. Sequence alignment using BLAST showed a high similarity of 95%-97% with zoonotic Blastocystis ST3 subtype sequences (GenBank accession numbers MW404497.1, MW242639.1, and MW767066.1). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the YN-145 sequence formed a separate cluster within the ST3 subtype.

Key words: Blastocystis, Dog, Cat, Genotype, Zhangzhou, Fujian

CLC Number: