Molecular and phylogenetic studies of Taenia hydatigena cysts in native sheep in Sulaimani Province, Iraq

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the strain(s) of Taenia hydatigena parasite in native breed of sheep in Sulaimani province of Iraq by using polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Sheep isolates (20) of T. hydatigena cysts were collected from native breed of sheep at Modern SulaimaniSlaughterhouse. Following DNA extraction, fragment of cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1) gene was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction using specific primer and 4 highly concentrated amplicons were subjected to partial sequencing. All isolates were 100% identical, indicating no genetic variation in isolates. Phylogenetic analysis computed by neighbor joining (NJ) from the partial cox1 gene nucleotide sequences revealed that the Iraqi T. hydatigena isolates identified in this study were clustered in one clade, along with isolates from Mongolia and China. It can be concluded that the identified strain from sheep isolates was similar to the Mongolian and Chinese strains, and closely related to strains of neighboring countries especially Iran and Turkey.