Highlights
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- Sarcocystis neurona–like sarcocysts possessing thickened villar tips were identified in two bobcats tongue muscle squash under light microscope.
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- 26 of 35 bobcats were found to harbor S. neurona-like DNA in their tissues by PCR-DNA sequencing at ITS1.
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- One bobcat was infected with S. dasypi-like parasite and two bobcats were co-infected with S. neurona-like and S. dasypi-like parasites detected by PCR-DNA sequencing at ITS1.
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- The high prevalence of sarcocysts in bobcat tissues suggested an efficient sylvatic cycle of Sarcocystis spp.
Abstract
The protozoan Sarcocystis neurona
is an important cause of severe clinical disease of horses (called
equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, EPM), marine mammals, companion
animals, and several species of wildlife animals in the Americas. The
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is its definitive host
in the USA and other animals act as intermediate or aberrant hosts.
Samples of tongue and heart from 35 bobcats hunted for fur and food from
Mississippi State, USA in February, 2014 were used for the present
study. Muscles were examined for Sarcocystis infection by
microscopic examination of either unfixed muscle squash preparations or
pepsin digests, by histopathology of fixed samples, and by molecular
methods. Sarcocystis-like bradyzoites were found in digests of
14 hearts and 10 tongues of 35 bobcats. In histological sections,
sarcocysts were found in 26 of 35 bobcats; all appeared relatively
thin-walled similar to S. felis sarcocysts under light microscope at 1000× magnification. S. neurona-like
sarcocysts having thickened villar tips were seen in unstained muscle
squash of tongue of two bobcats and PCR-DNA sequencing identified them
definitively as S. neurona-like parasites. DNA extracted from
bradyzoites obtained from tongue and heart muscle digests was analyzed
by PCR-DNA sequencing at the ITS1 locus. Results indicated the presence of S. neurona-like parasite in 26 of 35 samples. ITS1 sequences identical to S. dasypi were identified in 3 bobcats, 2 of which were also co-infected with S. neurona-like parasite. The high prevalence of sarcocysts in bobcat tissues suggested an efficient sylvatic cycle of Sarcocystis spp. in the remote regions of Mississippi State with the bobcat as a relevant intermediate host.
Keywords
- Bobcat (Lynx rufus);
- S. neurona;
- S. felis;
- S. dasypi;
- Sarcocysts;
- PCR-DNA sequencing
Published by Elsevier B.V.
