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Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut

Protozoa, of the taxon Gregarinasina, are a heterogeneous group of Apicomplexa that includes ~1600 species. They are parasites of a large variety of both marine and terrestrial invertebrates, mainly annelids, arthropods and mollusks. Unlike coccidians and heamosporidians, gregarines have not proven...

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Autores principales: Nocciolini, Chiara, Cucini, Claudio, Leo, Chiara, Francardi, Valeria, Dreassi, Elena, Carapelli, Antonio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6313518/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30486465
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms6040119
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author Nocciolini, Chiara
Cucini, Claudio
Leo, Chiara
Francardi, Valeria
Dreassi, Elena
Carapelli, Antonio
author_facet Nocciolini, Chiara
Cucini, Claudio
Leo, Chiara
Francardi, Valeria
Dreassi, Elena
Carapelli, Antonio
author_sort Nocciolini, Chiara
collection PubMed
description Protozoa, of the taxon Gregarinasina, are a heterogeneous group of Apicomplexa that includes ~1600 species. They are parasites of a large variety of both marine and terrestrial invertebrates, mainly annelids, arthropods and mollusks. Unlike coccidians and heamosporidians, gregarines have not proven to have a negative effect on human welfare; thus, they have been poorly investigated. This study focuses on the molecular identification and phylogeny of the gregarine species found in the midgut of two insect species that are considered as an alternative source of animal proteins for the human diet: the mealworm Tenebrio molitor, and the super-worm Zophobas atratus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Gregarine specimens were isolated from the gut of both larval and adult stages of T. molitor specimens, as well as from Z. atratus larvae. The morphological analyses were restricted to the identification of the different parasite morpho-types, likely corresponding either to different life-cycle stages or to alternative gregarine species. The samples were also used for the DNA extraction necessary for their genetic characterization. Finally, the efficiency of different molecular markers (i.e., 18S rDNA gene alone or combined with the Internal Transcribed Spacer 1) was assessed when applied either to gregarine species identification and to phylogenetic inference.
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spelling pubmed-63135182019-01-04 Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut Nocciolini, Chiara Cucini, Claudio Leo, Chiara Francardi, Valeria Dreassi, Elena Carapelli, Antonio Microorganisms Article Protozoa, of the taxon Gregarinasina, are a heterogeneous group of Apicomplexa that includes ~1600 species. They are parasites of a large variety of both marine and terrestrial invertebrates, mainly annelids, arthropods and mollusks. Unlike coccidians and heamosporidians, gregarines have not proven to have a negative effect on human welfare; thus, they have been poorly investigated. This study focuses on the molecular identification and phylogeny of the gregarine species found in the midgut of two insect species that are considered as an alternative source of animal proteins for the human diet: the mealworm Tenebrio molitor, and the super-worm Zophobas atratus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Gregarine specimens were isolated from the gut of both larval and adult stages of T. molitor specimens, as well as from Z. atratus larvae. The morphological analyses were restricted to the identification of the different parasite morpho-types, likely corresponding either to different life-cycle stages or to alternative gregarine species. The samples were also used for the DNA extraction necessary for their genetic characterization. Finally, the efficiency of different molecular markers (i.e., 18S rDNA gene alone or combined with the Internal Transcribed Spacer 1) was assessed when applied either to gregarine species identification and to phylogenetic inference. MDPI 2018-11-27 /pmc/articles/PMC6313518/ /pubmed/30486465 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms6040119 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Nocciolini, Chiara
Cucini, Claudio
Leo, Chiara
Francardi, Valeria
Dreassi, Elena
Carapelli, Antonio
Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut
title Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut
title_full Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut
title_fullStr Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut
title_short Assessing the Efficiency of Molecular Markers for the Species Identification of Gregarines Isolated from the Mealworm and Super Worm Midgut
title_sort assessing the efficiency of molecular markers for the species identification of gregarines isolated from the mealworm and super worm midgut
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6313518/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30486465
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms6040119
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