title: Genetic identification of five strongyle nematode parasites in wild african elephants (Loxodonta africana).
abstract: African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) are an ecologically and economically important species in many African habitats. However, despite the importance of elephants, research on their parasites is limited, especially in wild populations. Currently, we lack genetic tools to identify elephant parasites. We present genetic markers from ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to identify five elephant-specific nematode parasites in the family Strongylidae: Murshidia linstowi, Murshidia longicaudata, Murshidia africana, Quilonia africana, and Khalilia sameera. We collected adult nematodes from feces deposited by wild elephants living in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Using both morphologic and genetic techniques, we found that the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in rDNA provides a reliable marker to distinguish these species of strongyles. We found no evidence for cryptic genetic species within these morphologic species according to the cox-1 region of mtDNA. Levels of genetic diversity in strongyles from elephants were consistent with the genetic diversity seen within other strongyle species. We anticipate that these results will be a useful tool for identifying gastrointestinal nematode parasites in elephants.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 137 Galvin Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors: E R
authors: ER
authors: McLean
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Kinsella
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Chiyo
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Obanda
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Moss
authors: E A
authors: EA
authors: Archie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis; D004606:Elephants / Q000469:parasitology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007630:Kenya; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013323:Strongylus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers