Species Distribution And Population Structure Of Entamoeba And Blastocystis From Yaks In Qinghai Province

Entamoeba and Blastocystis,two common pathogen that parasitize in the gastrointestinal tract,can infect many kinds of animals and cause widespread epidemics in various countries.In addition,they threaten social public health and affect the normal development of animal husbandry to a certain extent.Yak,a rare species can survive in the harsh environment in plateau area,is the main economic source of people in Qinghai province and contributes a lot to the necessities of life for locals.Hence,investigating the species distribution and population structure of Entamoeba and Blastocystis has important referential meanings for the epidemics,prevention and control of these two pathogens in yaks from Qinghai province.In present study,regular and nested PCR methods were used to clarify the prevalence of Entamoeba and Blastocystis in yaks from Qinghai province.And phylogeny analysis was conducted as well.The results were shown as follows:1.After the amplification of Entamoeba targeting 18 S rRNA gene locus with 1 027 fecal samples from yaks in seven sampling sites in Qinghai province,the results showed that the prevalence was 36.32%(373/1027).Among the prevalence of seven different locations,the highest was detected in Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog(56.58%),and the lowest in Haibei(16.84%),with a significant difference among these seven sites(P<0.05).Among the prevalence of four different seasons,the highest in summer(45.63%),and the lowest was in winter(21.67%),with a significant difference(P<0.05).And the prevalence of two different age groups of hosts was 39.58%(yaks<6 months)and 36.16%(yaks>6 months),respectively,without a significant difference(P>0.05).After sequencing and phylogeny analysis,284 of 373 positive samples were infected by Entamoeba bovis,79 by Entamoeba sp.MG107/BEL,eight by Entamoeba sp.RL2,and two by Entamoeba sp.RL9.And E.bovis was detected as the most prevalent species in yaks infected of Entamoeba from seven sampling sites of Qinghai province.2.After the amplification of Blastocystis targeting SSU rRNA gene locus with 1 027 fecal samples from yaks in seven sampling sites in Qinghai province,the results showed that the prevalence was 27.07%(278/1 027).Among the prevalence of seven different locations,the highest was detected in Haixi(48.94%),while the lowest in Hainan(19.75%),with a significant difference among these seven sites(P<0.05).Among the prevalence of four different seasons,the highest in summer(32.68%),and the lowest in spring(22.33%),with nosignificant difference among the four seasons(P>0.05).And the prevalence of two different age groups of hosts was 27.08%(yaks<6 months)and 27.07%(yaks>6 months),respectively,without a significant difference(P>0.05).After sequencing and phylogeny analysis,170 of278 positive samples were infected by Blastocystis sp.subtype ST10,70 by ST14,and 38 by ST12.And Blastocystis sp.subtype ST10 was detected as the predominant species in yaks infected of Blastocystis from seven sampling sites of Qinghai province.