Ribosomal DNA sequences reveal a parasitic septate gregarine (Apicomplexa: Gregarinia) in the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut

Abstract

Ribosomal RNA genes are ubiquitously present and nucleotide sequences of many regions are relatively conserved among many organisms. Many specific PCR primers have been developed for amplification of the rDNA fragments from particular taxa. However, many authors use universal primers which can bind to conserved regions to detect protozoa pathogens that are obligate parasites of digestive tracts and body cavities in the analysed DNA sample of invertebrate animals. In this study, uncultured gregarine clones were detected by PCR and rDNA sequencing in the scorpion, Leiurus quinquestriatus (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Comparison of the amplified rDNA fragments with sequences deposited in GenBank revealed that analysed sequences corresponded to 18S rDNA from the genus Gregarina (88 % identity with Xiphocephalus ellisi). To our knowledge, this is the first record of scorpion infected with gregarines.

Keywords

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences. C, Physiology and Molecular Biology
Volume 5, Issue 1
June 2013
Pages 123-129

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