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Lookup NU author(s): Abdalgader Moftah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The phylum Apicomplexa includes parasites of medical, zoonotic and veterinary significance. Understanding the global distribution and genetic diversity of these protozoa is of fundamental importance for efficient, robust and long-lasting methods of control. Eimeria spp. cause intestinal coccidiosis in all major livestock animals and are the most important parasites of domestic chickens in terms of both economic impact and animal welfare. Despite having significant negative impacts on the efficiency of food production, many fundamental questions relating to the global distribution and genetic variation of Eimeria spp. remain largely unanswered. Here, we provide the broadest map yet of Eimeria occurrence for domestic chickens, confirming that all the known species (Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria brunetti, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria mitis, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria praecox, Eimeria tenella) are present in all six continents where chickens are found (including 21 countries). Analysis of 248 internal transcribed spacer sequences derived from 17 countries provided evidence of possible allopatric diversity for species such as E. tenella (F-ST values < 0.34) but not E. acervulina and E. mitis, and highlighted a trend towards widespread genetic variance. We found that three genetic variants described previously only in Australia and southern Africa (operational taxonomic units x, y and z) have a wide distribution across the southern, but not the northern hemisphere. While the drivers for such a polarised distribution of these operational taxonomic unit genotypes remains unclear, the occurrence of genetically variant Eimeria may pose a risk to food security and animal welfare in Europe and North America should these parasites spread to the northern hemisphere. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology.
Author(s): Clark EL, Macdonald SE, Thenmozhi V, Kundu K, Garg R, Kumar S, Ayoade S, Fornace KM, Jatau ID, Moftah A, Nolan MJ, Sudhakar NR, Adebambo AO, Lawal IA, Zapata RA, Awuni JA, Chapman HD, Karimuribo E, Mugasa CM, Namangala B, Rushton J, Suo X, Thangaraj K, Rao ASRS, Tewari AK, Banerjee PS, Raj GD, Raman M, Tomley FM, Blake DP
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: International Journal for Parasitology
Year: 2016
Volume: 46
Issue: 9
Pages: 537-544
Print publication date: 01/08/2016
Online publication date: 29/06/2016
Acceptance date: 24/05/2016
Date deposited: 31/10/2016
ISSN (print): 0020-7519
ISSN (electronic): 1879-0135
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.05.006
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.05.006
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