title: Molecular prevalence and characterization of Hepatozoon ursi infection in Indian sloth bears (Melursus ursinus).
abstract: Hepatozoon species are parasites that infect a wide variety of domestic and wild animals. The objective of the study was to detect the occurrence of Hepatozoon ursi in Indian sloth bears and to characterize the parasite based on phylogenetic analysis of the partial 18S rRNA gene sequence. Hepatozoon infection could be detected in 38 (70%) out of fifty-four blood samples of Indian sloth bears (captive and wild), suggestive of high prevalence of Hepatozoon infection in Indian sloth bears. Sequencing of partial 18S rRNA gene of the positive samples and BLAST analysis indicated that the nearest phylogenetic neighbour was H. ursi with which they exhibited 99-100% similarity. Additionally, Hepatozoon sp. isolated from wild sloth bears of India were identical to those in captive sloth bears and phylogenetically related to H. ursi reported from Japanese black bears from Japan. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the molecular characterization of H. ursi infection in Indian sloth bears.
authors: Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500007, India.
authors: Rahul Mohanchandra
authors: RM
authors: Pawar
authors: Anantula
authors: A
authors: Poornachandar
authors: Attur Shanmugam
authors: AS
authors: Arun
authors: Santhanam
authors: S
authors: Manikandan
authors: Sisinthy
authors: S
authors: Shivaji
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000235:genetics; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D001503:Ursidae