A DNA barcode for Piroplasmea.
Due to the difficulty in morphological identification the development of reliable molecular tools for species distinction is a priority for piroplasma. Previous studies based on 18S rRNA and other gene sequences provided a backbone for the phylogeny of piroplasma. However, it is difficult to discriminate species in a comprehensive sample. Here, the abilities of eight DNA regions including 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and COI genes, have been compared as candidates of DNA barcodes for piroplasma. In total, 484 sequences of piroplasma were collected from this study and GenBank. The eight proposed DNA regions were evaluated according to the criterion of Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL). From this evaluation, ITS2 had 100% PCR amplification efficiency, an ideal sequence length, the largest gap between the intra- and inter-specific divergence, 98% identification efficiency at the genus level, and 92% at the species level. Thus, we propose that ITS2 is the most ideal DNA barcode based on the current database for piroplasma.
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Gansu, PR China.
Huitian
H
Gou
Guiquan
G
Guan
Aihong
A
Liu
Miling
M
Ma
Zongke
Z
Xu
Zhijie
Z
Liu
Qiaoyun
Q
Ren
Youquan
Y
Li
Jifei
J
Yang
Ze
Z
Chen
Hong
H
Yin
Jianxun
J
Luo
D001403:Babesia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
D016054:DNA, Protozoan