title: Sarcocystis masoni, n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae), and redescription of Sarcocystis aucheniae from llama (Lama glama), guanaco (Lama guanicoe) and alpaca (Vicugna pacos).
abstract: There is considerable confusion concerning the species of Sarcocystis in South American camelids (SAC). Several species names have been used; however, proper descriptions are lacking. In the present paper, we redescribe the macroscopic sarcocyst forming Sarcocystis aucheniae and describe and propose a new name, Sarcocystis masoni for the microscopic sarcocyst forming species. Muscles samples were obtained from llamas (Lama glama) and guanacos (Lama guanicoe) from Argentina and from alpacas (Vicugna pacos) and llamas from Peru. Individual sarcocysts were processed by optical and electron microscopy, and molecular studies. Microscopic sarcocysts of S. masoni were up to 800 µm long and 35-95 µm wide, the sarcocyst wall was 2·5-3·5 µm thick, and had conical to cylindrical villar protrusions (vp) with several microtubules. Each vp had 11 or more rows of knob-like projections. Seven 18S rRNA gene sequences obtained from sarcocysts revealed 95-96% identity with other Sarcocystis spp. sequences reported in the GenBank. Sarcocysts of S. aucheniae were macroscopic, up to 1·2 cm long and surrounded by a dense and laminar 50 µm thick secondary cyst wall. The sarcocyst wall was up to 10 µm thick, and had branched vp, appearing like cauliflower. Comparison of the 11 sequences obtained from individual macroscopic cysts evidenced a 98-99% of sequence homology with other S. aucheniae sequences. In conclusion, 2 morphologically and molecularly different Sarcocystis species, S. masoni (microscopic cysts) and S. aucheniae (macroscopic cysts), were identified affecting different SAC from Argentina and Peru.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias,Universidad Nacional de La Plata,La Plata,Argentina.
authors.forename: Gastón
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moré
authors.affiliation: Unidad Académica Caleta Olivia,Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral,Santa Cruz,Argentina.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Regensburger
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias,Universidad Nacional de La Plata,La Plata,Argentina.
authors.forename: M Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gos
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias,Universidad Nacional de La Plata,La Plata,Argentina.
authors.forename: Lais
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pardini
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Research Service,Beltsville Agricultural Research Center,Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory,Beltsville,Maryland 20705-2350,USA.
authors.forename: Shiv K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Unidad Académica Caleta Olivia,Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral,Santa Cruz,Argentina.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ctibor
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia,Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia,Lima,Perú
authors.forename: Marcos Enrique
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Serrano-Martínez
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Research Service,Beltsville Agricultural Research Center,Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory,Beltsville,Maryland 20705-2350,USA.
authors.forename: Jitender P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias,Universidad Nacional de La Plata,La Plata,Argentina.
authors.forename: M Cecilia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Venturini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D064131:Back Muscles / Q000469:parasitology; D002161:Camelids, New World / Q000469:parasitology*; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000662:veterinary; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000469:parasitology; D010568:Peru; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012522:Sarcocystis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012523:Sarcocystosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: Argentina; PCR; Peru; Sarcocystis spp. South American camelids; electron microscopy; sequencing