title: Morphological and molecular analysis of metacercariae of Diphtherostomum brusinae (Stossich, 1888) Stossich, 1903 from a new bivalve host Mytilus galloprovincialis.
abstract: The digenean trematode Diphtherostomum brusinae (Stossich, 1888) Stossich, 1903 presents a complex life cycle that may involve more than one intermediate host. The present study represents the first description of the metacercariae from D. brusinae infecting the labial palps of a new intermediate host, Mytilus galloprovincialis, in the Aveiro estuary, Portugal. The morphology of this parasitic stage was studied by light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and some differences were reported (body and sucker sizes, and spine distribution and shape). In this work, the 18S partial region of the ribosomal DNA was sequenced from D. brusinae metacercariae isolated from M. galloprovincialis collected in different localities of the Aveiro estuary. In addition, sequences from the same region of the 18S rDNA were obtained from D. brusinae cercariae and metacercariae, hosted by Nassarius reticulatus and Cerastoderma edule, respectively. No intraspecific polymorphism was detected in the 18S partial region, since there was 100% homology among all the sequences analysed. The same comparison was made for the ITS1, and we observed intraspecific polymorphism in this region. To our knowledge, this is the first report of D. brusinae metacercariae infecting the mussel M. galloprovincialis with support from morphological and molecular data.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, FC4, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Francisco
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Doenças Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge, Rua Alexandre Herculano, 321, 4000-055 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Doenças Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge, Rua Alexandre Herculano, 321, 4000-055 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pina
authors.affiliation: CIMAR Laboratório Associado/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Russell-Pinto
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, FC4, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049873:Cardiidae / Q000469:parasitology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000469:parasitology; D058488:Metacercariae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008853:Microscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D049878:Mytilus / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011174:Portugal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014200:Trematoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D018509:DNA, Helminth; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S