Molecular identification ofAustrobilharziaspecies parasitizingCerithidea cingulata(Gastropoda: Potamididae) from Kuwait Bay

Abstract

AbstractAvian schistosomes belonging to the genusAustrobilharzia(Digenea: Schistosomatidae) are among the causative agents of cercarial dermatitis in humans. In this paper, ribosomal and mitochondrial DNA sequences were used to study schistosome cercariae from Kuwait Bay that have been identified morphologically asAustrobilharziasp. Sequence comparison of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) 28S and 18S regions of the collected schistosome cercariae with corresponding sequences of other schistosomes in GenBank revealed high sequence similarity. This confirmed the morphological identification of schistosome cercariae from Kuwait Bay as belonging to the genusAustrobilharzia. The finding was further supported by the phylogenetic tree that was constructed based on the combined data set 18S-28S-mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCO1) sequences in whichAustrobilharziasp. clustered withA. terrigalensisandA. variglandis. Sequence comparison of theAustrobilharziasp. from Kuwait Bay withA. variglandisandA. terrigalensisbased on mtCO1 showed a variation of 10% and 11%, respectively. Since the sequence variation in the mtCO1 was within the interspecific range among trematodes, it seems that theAustrobilharziaspecies from Kuwait Bay is different from the two species reported in GenBank,A.terrigalensisandA. variglandis.