title: Molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii in snakes.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, is responsible for one of the most common zoonotic parasitic diseases in almost all warm-blooded vertebrates worldwide, and it is estimated that about one-third of the world human population is chronically infected with this parasite. Little is known about the circulation of T. gondii in snakes and this study for the first time aimed to evaluate the infection rates of snakes by this parasite by PCR methods. The brain of 68 Snakes, that were collected between May 2012 and September 2015 and died after the hold in captivity, under which they were kept for taking poisons, were examined for the presence of this parasite. DNA was extracted and Nested-PCR method was carried out with two of pairs of primers to detect the 344 bp fragment of T. gondii GRA6 gene. Five positive nested-PCR products were directly sequenced in the forward and reverse directions by Sequetech Company (Mountain View, CA). T. gondii GRA6 gene were detected from 55 (80.88%) of 68 snakes brains. Sequencing of the GRA6 gene revealed 98-100% of similarity with T. gondii sequences deposited in GenBank. To our knowledge, this is the first study of molecular detection of T. gondii in snakes and our findings show a higher frequency of this organism among them.
authors: Department of Parasitology, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Alborz, Iran. Electronic address: v.nasiri@rvsri.ac.ir.
authors: Vahid
authors: V
authors: Nasiri
authors: Department of Venomous Animals and Antivenom Production, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Alborz, Karaj, Iran.
authors: Shohreh
authors: S
authors: Teymurzadeh
authors: Department of Parasitology, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Alborz, Iran.
authors: Gholamreza
authors: G
authors: Karimi
authors: Faculty of Physics, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Mehdi
authors: M
authors: Nasiri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D012911:Snakes / Q000469:parasitology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D016781:Toxoplasmosis, Cerebral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; C095047:GRA6 protein, Toxoplasma gondii; D015800:Protozoan Proteins
keywords: GRA6 gene; PCR; Snake; Toxoplasma gondii