title: Polymerase chain reaction-based identity assay for pathogenic turkey Eimeria.
abstract: Diagnosis of turkey Eimeria infection by conventional parasitologic methods is challenging and, until now, no molecular tools existed that clearly distinguished the four widely recognized pathogenic species: Eimeria adenoeides, E. meleagrimitis, E. gallopavonis, and E. dispersa. In this study, the internal transcribed spacer region one (ITS-1) was amplified and sequenced from 23 conventionally characterized reference samples. Phylogenic analysis segregated samples into five distinct cluster groups. The ITS-1 region(s) within each cluster were of a particular length and shared from 96% to 100% identity, while amplified ITS-1 region(s) between clusters differed in length and shared only 10.6% to 49.7% sequence identity. In addition, we developed PCR primer sets as diagnostic tools capable of specifically identifying members of each of the five clusters.
authors.affiliation: Intervet Schering-Plough Animal Health, 21401 West Center Road, Elkhorn, NE 68022, USA. stephanie.cook@sp.intervet.com
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Deborrah S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Alexandria L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: McGowan
authors.forename: Joan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Schrader
authors.forename: G S K
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Withanage
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Francis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000235:genetics; D004539:Eimeria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D058974:Phylogeography; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary*; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D014422:Turkeys
chemical_list: D021901:DNA, Intergenic