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Multilocus genotyping of Giardia duodenalis in Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) in China

  • Genetics, Evolution, and Phylogeny - Short Communication
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Abstract

The protozoan parasite Giardia duodenalis is known to infect humans and a wide range of animals globally. However, no studies on G. duodenalis infection in Bactrian camels have been reported. In the present study, in order to examine the prevalence and genetic diversity of G. duodenalis in Bactrian camels, 852 fecal samples were collected from 24 sampling sites in three geographical areas (Gansu province, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions) of northwestern China, and subjected to multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis targeting the 18S rRNA, β-giardin (bg), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), and triosephosphate isomerase (tpi) genes. About 84 fecal samples tested positive for Giardia infection, with an overall prevalence of 9.8%, including three samples from camel calves with diarrhea. Significant differences (χ2 = 80.7, df = 2, P < 0.01) in the prevalence were found in Bactrian camels belonging to three geographical areas, with the highest (33.3%) in Gansu province and the lowest (4.2%) in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Furthermore, significantly different prevalences (χ2 = 34.2, df = 2, P < 0.01) were revealed among age groups, with the highest (35.7%) in camels aged 3 to 6 years old, and the lowest (7.5%) in camels aged > 6 years old. Sequence analysis identified two assemblages, including zoonotic assemblage A and ungulate-adapted assemblage E, with the latter as the dominant G. duodenalis assemblage in each age group and at all sampling sites having positive samples except Hotan. Genetic variations were detected among G. duodenalis isolates in these camels, and eight, three, and seven haplotypes were identified at loci bg, gdh, and tpi, respectively, forming two multilocus genotypes (MLGs) of zoonotic assemblage A and one MLG of assemblage E. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on G. duodenalis infection in Bactrian camels, and the data indicate that G. duodenalis have a broad host range.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Professor Min Hu from College of Veterinary Medicine of Huazhong Agricultural University (China) for her assistance in improving the English of the manuscript. The language of this MS also was improved by Editage, a commercial service for English editing.

Funding

This study was funded by the grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (31960704), Program for Young and Middle-aged Leading Science, Technology, and Innovation of Xinjiang Production & Construction Group (2018CB034), Key Technologies R & D Programme of Xinjiang Production & Construction Group (2020AB025), and The Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi Universities.

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Author notes

  1. Shan-Shan Zhao and Yun-Hui Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi Province, People’s Republic of China

    Shan-Shan Zhao, Yun-Hui Li, Jun-Ke Song & Guang-Hui Zhao

  2. College of Animal Science, Tarim University, Alar, 843300, Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Regions, People’s Republic of China

    Ying Zhang, Qiang Zhou, Bo Jing, Chun-Yan Xu & Meng Qi

  3. College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Long-Xian Zhang

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  1. Shan-Shan Zhao
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Our research was conducted strictly in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the Ministry of Health, China, and the protocol was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China. Permission was obtained from animal owners prior to collection of fecal samples.

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Zhao, SS., Li, YH., Zhang, Y. et al. Multilocus genotyping of Giardia duodenalis in Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) in China. Parasitol Res 119, 3873–3880 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06905-y

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