title: Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates from Portugal, Austria and Israel reveals higher genetic variability within the type II lineage.
abstract: This study compared genetic diversity of Toxoplasma gondii isolates from Portugal, Austria and Israel. For this, we genotyped 90 T. gondii isolates (16 from Portugal, 67 from Austria and 7 from Israel) using 10 nested PCR-restriction length polymorphism (RFLP) genetic markers and 15 microsatellite (MS) markers. By PCR-RFLP typing, 7 isolates from Portugal chickens were identified as type II (ToxoDB #1 or #3), 4 were type III (ToxoDB #2) and the remaining 4 isolates have unique genotype pattern were designated as ToxoDB #254. One mouse virulent isolate from a bovine fetus (Bos taurus) in Portugal was type I (ToxoDB #10) at all loci and designated as TgCowPr1. All 67 isolates from Austria and 7 from Israel were type II (ToxoDB #1 or #3). By MS typing, many additional genetic variations were revealed among the type II and type III isolates. Phylogenetic analysis showed that isolates from the same geographical locations tend to cluster together, and there is little overlapping of genotypes among different locations. This study demonstrated that the MS markers can provide higher discriminatory power to reveal association of genotypes with geographical locations. Future studies of the type II strains in Europe by these MS markers will be useful to reveal transmission patterns of the parasite.
authors: United States Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Research Service,Beltsville Agricultural Research Center,Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory,Building 1001,Beltsville,Maryland 20705-2350,USA.
authors: S K
authors: SK
authors: Verma
authors: Centre National de Référence (CNR) Toxoplasmose/Toxoplasma Biological Resource Center (BRC),Centre Hospitalier-Universitaire Dupuytren,Limoges 87042,France.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Ajzenberg
authors: Department of Microbiology,University of Tennessee,Knoxville,Tennessee 37996-0845,USA.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Rivera-Sanchez
authors: Department of Microbiology,University of Tennessee,Knoxville,Tennessee 37996-0845,USA.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Su
authors: United States Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Research Service,Beltsville Agricultural Research Center,Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory,Building 1001,Beltsville,Maryland 20705-2350,USA.
authors: J P
authors: JP
authors: Dubey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D002645:Chickens; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Austria; Israel; PCR-RFLP; Portugal; Toxoplasma gondii; genotyping; microsatellite analysis