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Morphological and molecular identification of Sarcocystis spp. from the sika deer (Cervus nippon), including two new species Sarcocystis frondea and Sarcocystis nipponi

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Abstract

Diaphragm muscles of 25 sika deer (Cervus nippon) farmed in Lithuania were examined for sarcocysts of Sarcocystis species. Two new Sarcocystis species, Sarcocystis frondea and Sarcocystis nipponi, were observed using light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and characterized by 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase (cox1) sequence analyses. By LM, sarcocysts of S. frondea and S. nipponi were ribbon-shaped and had finger-like sarcocyst wall protrusions, respectively. Under TEM, protrusions of S. frondea were about 9 × 1–1.5 μm, filled with clearly visible electron-dense substance and microtubules, type 39-like. Whereas, protrusions (about 9 × 0.2 μm) of S. nipponi arose from dome-shaped bases were filled with microtubules extending to the ground substance layer, type 9o-like. Moreover, three known Sarcocystis spp., Sarcocystis entzerothi, Sarcocystis ovalis, and Sarcocystis truncata previously described in other cervids as intermediate hosts, were characterized in sika deer. The cox1 was more suitable than 18S rDNA delimitating closely related Sarcocystis species from cervids. The phylogenetic results suggest that scavenger birds could be definitive hosts of S. frondea. According to the summarized morphological data on Sarcocystis found in the sika deer, such host should harbor at least nine different Sarcocystis species.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Open Access to research infrastructure of the Nature Research Centre under Lithuanian open access network initiative. The authors are grateful to Ms. S. Amšiejienė from the National Centre of Pathology (Vilnius, Lithuania) for her help in carrying out electron microscopy investigations.

Funding

This study was funded from the project of the Research Council of Lithuania (grant no. S-MIP-17-45).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Eglė Rudaitytė-Lukošienė, Petras Prakas, Dalius Butkauskas, Liuda Kutkienė, Iglė Vepštaitė-Monstavičė & Elena Servienė

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  1. Eglė Rudaitytė-Lukošienė
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  2. Petras Prakas
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Correspondence to Eglė Rudaitytė-Lukošienė.

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Rudaitytė-Lukošienė, E., Prakas, P., Butkauskas, D. et al. Morphological and molecular identification of Sarcocystis spp. from the sika deer (Cervus nippon), including two new species Sarcocystis frondea and Sarcocystis nipponi. Parasitol Res 117, 1305–1315 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5816-8

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