title: Molecular evidence of the multiple genotype infection of a wild Hokkaido brown bear (Ursus arctos yesoensis) by Babesia sp. UR1.
abstract: A frozen-stored blood clot of a wild brown bear cub Ursus arctos yesoensis that had been captured in Hokkaido, Japan was examined for piroplasma infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Two 18S ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) sequences were generated. One 1565-bp sequence showed the highest similarity with B. gibsoni (95.9% identity) but, phylogenetically, was found to belong to a distinct lineage. The other sequence (1709-bp) could not be definitively assigned to a described taxon, sharing only limited homology to the closest named species (90.1% identity with C. felis). In order to enhance information obtained from the SSU rDNA sequence, further detection and sequence analysis of the CCTeta gene sequence were done revealing the simultaneous presence of three closely related genotypes (all in a monophyletic lineage) within a single bear host. This finding suggested the possibility that a new Babesia species (Babesia sp. UR1) might have been maintained in nature in wild brown bears. While the parasite's biology is yet unknown, to our knowledge, this is, excepting the single case documentation in 1910 of a hemoparasite in a bear at Russian zoo, the first reported case of piroplasms inhabiting a bear species.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno-Gakuen University, 582-1, Bunkyodai-Midorimachi, Ebetsu, Hokkaido 069-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jinnai
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawabuchi-Kurata
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Haruyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shiraki
authors.forename: Mitsuhiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asakawa
authors.forename: Toyohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nasuno
authors.forename: Chiaki
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ishihara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000235:genetics*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005838:Genotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D001503:Ursidae
chemical_list: D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S