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Molecular and morphological circumscription of Mesocestoides tapeworms from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in central Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2011

GABRIELA HRČKOVA ,
MARTINA MITERPÁKOVÁ ,
ANNE O'CONNOR ,
VILIAM ŠNÁBEL  and
PETER D. OLSON
GABRIELA HRČKOVA*
Affiliation:
Parasitological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01 Košice, Slovak Republic
MARTINA MITERPÁKOVÁ
Affiliation:
Parasitological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01 Košice, Slovak Republic
ANNE O'CONNOR
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
VILIAM ŠNÁBEL
Affiliation:
Parasitological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01 Košice, Slovak Republic
PETER D. OLSON
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Parasitological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01 Košice, Slovak Republic. Tel: +421 55 633 4455. Fax: +421 55 633 1414. E-mail: hrcka@saske.sk
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Summary

Here we examine 3157 foxes from 6 districts of the Slovak Republic in order to determine for the first time the distribution, prevalence and identity of Mesocestodes spp. endemic to this part of central Europe. During the period 2001–2006, an average of 41·9% of foxes were found to harbour Mesocestoides infections. Among the samples we confirmed the widespread and common occurrence of M. litteratus (Batsch, 1786), and report the presence, for the first time, of M. lineatus (Goeze, 1782) in the Slovak Republic, where it has a more restricted geographical range and low prevalence (7%). Using a combination of 12S rDNA, CO1 and ND1 mitochondrial gene sequences together with analysis of 13 morphometric characters, we show that the two species are genetically distinct and can be differentiated by discrete breaks in the ranges of the male and female reproductive characters, but not by the more commonly examined characters of the scolex and strobila. Estimates of interspecific divergence within Mesocestoides ranged from 9 to 18%, whereas intraspecific variation was less than 2%, and phylogenetic analyses of the data showed that despite overlapping geographical ranges, the two commonly reported European species are not closely related, with M. litteratus more closely allied to North American isolates of Mesocestoides than to M. lineatus. We confirm that morphological analysis of reproductive organs can be used to reliably discriminate between these often sympatric species obtained from red foxes.

Keywords

MesocestoidesVulpes vulpes12S rDNACO1ND1Slovakia
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 138 , Issue 5 , April 2011 , pp. 638 - 647
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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