title: First report of genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in free-living Microtus fortis in northeastern China.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite which imperils the health of almost all warm-blooded animals, including humans. The objective of this study was to determine genetic characterization of T. gondii in free-living Microtus fortis (reed vole) in Jilin province, northeastern China. A total of 104 DNA samples, 74 from Gongzhuling and 30 from Baicheng, were extracted from lung tissues of M. fortis , and 56 (53.8%) of them were positive for T. gondii by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction of the B1 gene. These positive DNA samples were typed at 10 genetic markers including SAG1, 5'- and 3'-SAG2, alternative SAG2, BUTB, GRA6, L358, PK1, c22-8, c29-2, and Apico. Four samples were successfully genotyped at all genetic loci and grouped to 2 distinct genotypes; 2 samples belonged to ToxoDB Genotype no. 10 (Type I) and the other 2 presented ToxoDB Genotype no. 9 ( http://toxodb.org/toxo/ ); 4 samples were genotyped at 8 genetic loci, in which 2 samples belonged to ToxoDB Genotype no. 10 and 2 presented ToxoDB Genotype no. 9. To our knowledge, this is the first report of genetic typing of T. gondii from free-living M. fortis in northeast China. The results suggest that the Type I and ToxoDB Genotype no. 9 could be a potential risk factor for transmission through the reed vole in this region.
authors.affiliation: *State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China;
authors.forename: Xiao-Xuan
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Si-Yang
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ying-Guang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xing-Quan
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000469:parasitology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005838:Genotype; D008168:Lung / Q000469:parasitology; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing / Q000662:veterinary; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015183:Restriction Mapping / Q000662:veterinary; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan