Multilocus genotyping of Giardia duodenalis in dairy cattle in Henan, China

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 27;9(6):e100453. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100453. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Giardia duodenalis is a common and widespread intestinal protozoan parasite of both humans and animals. Previous epidemiological and molecular studies have identified Giardia infections in different animals and humans, but only limited information is available about the occurrence and genotypes of Giardia in cattle in China. In this study, we determined the occurrence of giardiasis and genetically characterized G. duodenalis in dairy cattle in Henan Province, central China. The overall prevalence of G. duodenalis was 7.2% (128/1777) on microscopic analysis, with the highest infection rate (22.7%) in calves aged less than 1 month. G. duodenalis assemblages and subtypes were identified with multilocus genotyping based on the SSU rRNA, β-giardin (bg), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), and triosephosphate isomerase (tpi) genes. Two assemblages were detected in the successfully sequenced samples: assemblage A (n = 58), assemblage E (n = 21), with a mixed E and A assemblage (n = 2). Four novel subtypes of the gdh gene and seven of the bg gene were found among the G. duodenalis assemblage E isolates. Using the nomenclature for the multilocus genotype (MLG) model, nine novel multilocus genotypes E (MLGs E1-E9) and three MLGs A (a novel subtype AI, previously detected subtype AII-1, and a combination of both) were identified. MLG AII-1 identified in this study may be an important zoonotic subtype. The dairy cattle in Henan are a potential public health concern.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Cattle Diseases / epidemiology
  • Cattle Diseases / parasitology*
  • China / epidemiology
  • Genes, Protozoan
  • Genotype
  • Geography
  • Giardia lamblia / classification*
  • Giardia lamblia / genetics*
  • Giardiasis / veterinary*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Phylogeny
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Prevalence

Grants and funding

This study was supported in part by the State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (31330079), http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/publish/portal0/default.htm; the funds for the International Cooperation and Exchange of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31110103901), http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/nsfc/cen/gjhzj/index.html; the Program for Science&Technology Innovation Talents in Universities of Henan Province (134200510012), http://www.hnkjt.gov.cn/new/; and the Key National Science and Technology Specific Projects (No. 2012ZX10004220-001), http://www.nmp.gov.cn/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.