title: Detection of a novel genotype of Cryptosporidium in Antarctic pinnipeds.
abstract: A study was conducted to investigate the presence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in Antarctic marine mammals. A total of 270 faecal samples from different species of pinnipeds from different locations in the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula were analysed by immunofluorescence microscopy and PCR. Cryptosporidium was detected by PCR in three samples from Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and 2 Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii). However, no oocysts were observed in any of the samples by immunofluorescence microscopy. Molecular characterisation of the isolates, using the 18S rDNA, the HSP70 and the COWP loci, revealed the presence of a Cryptosporidium sp., previously reported from an Antarctic Southern elephant seal, in the elephant seals and a novel genotype in Weddell seals. Giardia could not be detected in any of the samples analysed.
authors.affiliation: SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rengifo-Herrera
authors.forename: Luis Miguel
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ortega-Mora
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gómez-Bautista
authors.forename: Francisco Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: García-Peña
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: García-Párraga
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pedraza-Díaz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D010872:Caniformia / Q000469:parasitology*; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005872:Giardia / Q000502:physiology; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D046048:Seals, Earless / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S; C038207:giardin protein, Giardia lamblia; C106305:oocyst wall protein, Cryptosporidium