title: Molecular identification of Taenia mustelae cysts in subterranean rodent plateau zokors (Eospalax baileyi).
abstract: Cestode larvae spend one phase of their two-phase life cycle in the viscera of rodents, but cases of cestodes infecting subterranean rodents have only been rarely observed. To experimentally gain some insight into this phenomenon, we captured approximately 300 plateau zokors (Eospalax baileyi), a typical subterranean rodent inhabiting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and examined their livers for the presence of cysts. Totally, we collected five cysts, and using a mitochondrial gene (cox1) and two nuclear genes (pepck and pold) as genetic markers, we were able to analyze the taxonomy of the cysts. Both the maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods showed that the cysts share a monophyly with Taenia mustelae, while Kimura 2-parameter distances and number of different sites between our sequences and T. mustelae were far less than those found between the examined sequences and other Taeniidae species. These results, alongside supporting paraffin section histology, imply that the cysts found in plateau zokors can be regarded as larvae of T. mustelae, illustrating that zokors are a newly discovered intermediate host record of this parasite.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining 811602, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Ying
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining 811602, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Xia
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Xining No. 2 People's Hospital of Qinghai Province, Xining 810003, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Bin
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China.
authors.forename: Tong-Zuo
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China. lingonghua@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gong-Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D010802:Phylogeny; D012377:Rodentia / Q000469:parasitology*; D013621:Taenia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
keywords: Endoparasites; New host record; Phylogenetic relationships; Subterranean rodent