Genetic Characteristics Identification And Homology Analysis Of Cryptosporidium And Enterocytozoon Bieneusi In Deer Isolates

Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi are important zoonotic pathogens of medical and veterinary importance, which is the most common to infect intestinal tract of mammals and cause hosts diarrhea. They can cause self-limiting diarrhea in immunocompetent hosts and persistent and life-threatening diarrhea in immunocompromised persons. Both of the pathogens are in a worldwide distribution, which can be transmitted by the fecal-oral route, via either direct contact or ingestion of contaminated food or water.China has the most domestic sika deer in the world, which ranks the first on the antler yield and quality. Deer and the products have great economic value, and stag breeding has become one of the most important economic animals breedings in China. In the present study, molecular epidemiology study of Cryptosporidium and Enterocytozoon bieneusi were performed in seven states of Henan province and Gilin province based on epidemiological survey, species/genotype identification, subtyping and genetic polymorphism analysis.There are 662 faece samples altogether collected from silk deer, red deer and Pere David’s deer, among which six genus of intestinal protozoa were found, named Coccidia、Giardia、Cryptosporidium、Nematodes、Whipworm and Tapeworm. The overall infection rate is 26.89%, and predominant genus are Coccidia and Cryptosporidium. The highest infection rate of these parasites are under the age of 1 year, especially the age of 1-2 months old.A total of 45 Cryptosporidium samples were genotyped by PCR amplification based on the SSU r RNA gene, sequence alignment, homology analysis and phylogenetic relationship analysis, and 11 C. parvum(24.44%), 5 C. andersoni(11.11%), 3 C. ubiquitum(6.67%), 1 C. muris(2.22%), 1 C. suis(2.22%) and 24 Cryptosporidium deer genotype(53.33%) were identified. Among which, Cryptospor-idium deer genotype was the predominant genotype. C. andersoni, C. muris and C. suis were reported in deer for the first time.Samples of C. parvum and C. ubiquitum were subtyped based on the 60 k Da glucoprotein(gp60) gene. Among the 11 deer-derived C. parvum isolates, 5 were amplificatd successfully and 4 belonged to IIa A15G2R2, 1 belonged to IId A19G1. The 3 deer-derived C. ubiquitum all belonged to XIIa subtype 2. IIa A15G2R2 and IId A19G1 were reported in deer for the first time.This study investigated the prevalence status of deer Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in Henan province and Jilin province, on which genetic characteristics identification and homology analysis were conducted. The results made a better understanding for us to realize the role and potential threats of deer in Cryptosporidium and Enterocytozoon bieneusi zoonotic infection, being of significant public and medical importance. Thus, the results provided useful references for further studying molecular epidemiology of Cryptosporidium and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in different areas, and for the effective prevention and control in China.