title: Genetic assessment of leech species from yak (Bos grunniens) in the tract of Northeast India.
abstract: Yak is an iconic symbol of Tibet and high altitudes of Northeast India. It is highly cherished for milk, meat, and skin. However, yaks suffer drastic change in milk production, weight loss, etc, when infested by parasites. Among them, infestation by leeches is a serious problem in the Himalayan belt of Northeast India. The parasite feeds on blood externally or from body orifices, like nasopharynx, oral, rectum, etc. But there has been limited data about the leech species infesting the yak in that region because of the difficulties in morphological identification due to plasticity of the body, changes in shape, and surface structure and thus, warrants for the molecular characterization of leech. In anticipation, this study would be influential in proper identification of leech species infesting yak track and also helpful in inventorying of leech species in Northeast India. Here, we investigated, through combined approach of molecular markers and morphological parameters for the identification of leech species infesting yak. The DNA sequences of COI barcode fragment, 18S and 28S rDNA, were analyzed for species identification. The generated sequences were subjected to similarity match in global database and analyzed further through Neighbour-Joining, K2P distance based as well as ML approach. Among the three markers, only COI was successful in delineating species whereas the 18S and 28S failed to delineate the species. Our study confirmed the presence of the species from genus Hirudinaria, Haemadipsa, Whitmania, and one species Myxobdella annandalae, which has not been previously reported from this region.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biotechnology , Assam University , Silchar , India.
authors.forename: Nilkantha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biotechnology , Assam University , Silchar , India.
authors.forename: Bishal
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dhar
authors.affiliation: b ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak , Dirang , Arunachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: Debasis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bhattarcharya
authors.affiliation: b ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak , Dirang , Arunachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: Sourabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deori
authors.affiliation: b ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak , Dirang , Arunachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: Juwar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doley
authors.affiliation: b ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak , Dirang , Arunachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: Joken
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bam
authors.affiliation: b ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak , Dirang , Arunachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: Pranab J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: b ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak , Dirang , Arunachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: Asit K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Bera
authors.affiliation: b ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak , Dirang , Arunachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: Sitangshu M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Deb
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biotechnology , Assam University , Silchar , India.
authors.forename: Ningthoujam Neelima
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biotechnology , Assam University , Silchar , India.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biotechnology , Assam University , Silchar , India.
authors.forename: Sorokhaibam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malvika
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biotechnology , Assam University , Silchar , India.
authors.forename: Sankar Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ghosh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000469:parasitology; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D007194:India; D007865:Leeches / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV
keywords: 18 and 28S; COI; K2P distance; Neighbour-Joining (NJ); leech; yak