title: Morphometric Analysis of Larval Rostellar Hooks in Taenia multiceps of Sheep in Iran and Its Association with Mitochondrial Gene Variability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purposes of the present study were morphometric characterization of rostellar hooks of Taenia multiceps and to investigate the association of hook length variation and the variability within two mitochondrial genes of sheep isolates of the parasite.
  
  
  METHODS
  Up to 4500 sheep brains were examined for the presence of C. cerebralis. Biometric characters based on the larval rostellar hook size were measured for each individual isolate. Representative mitochondrial CO1 and 12S rRNA gene sequences for each of the isolates were obtained from NCBI GenBank. Morphometric and genetic data were analyzed using cluster analysis, Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and random effects model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and fourteen sheep (2.5%) were found infected with the coenuri. The minimum and maximum number of scoleces per cyst was 40 and 550 respectively. Each scolex contained 22-27 hooks arranged in two rows of large and small hooks. The average total length of the large and small hooks was 158.9 and 112.1 μm, respectively. Using ICC, statistically significant clusters of different hook sizes were identified within the isolates. The length of the large and small hooks was significantly associated with the variability in mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taenia multiceps, is a relatively important zoonotic infection in Iranian sheep with the prevalence rate of 2.5%. Hook length analysis revealed statistically significant difference among individual isolates. Associations between the rostellar hook length and variability in the mitochondrial 12S rRNA was documented.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Sima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rostami
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Robin Nicholas
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Beech
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salavati
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Modeling in Health, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Baneshi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamyabi
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid Fasihi
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Harandi
keywords: Hook morphometry; Iran; Mitochondrial gene; Sheep; Taenia multiceps