The Taxonomic Position and Phylogenetic Relationship between Digramma interrupta and Ligula intestinalis Based on Morphological and Molecular Diagnosis
,
Abstract
Background: The position of Digramma interrupta remains disputable as it was raised by Cholodkovsky from Ligula alternans. This study aimed to survey the evolutionary relationships and the taxonomic position of D. interrupta and L. intestinalis. It also intended to support or reject the validity of D. interrupt as an independent genus and its correlation with L. intestinalis on the basis of their morphological characteristics and a study on molecular data.
Methods: Overall, 1301 fish varieties, including 883 Alburnoides bipunctatus and 418 Abramis brama, were collected from north and north-western parts of Iran. A. bipunctatus samples were obtained from fresh water sources of the Maragheh dam (northwest) and the Ramesar Lake (north). Moreover, samples of A. brama were captured from the Aras Dam (northwest) and the Bandar-e-Anzali lagoon (north). PCR was used to generate a fragment spanning two independent ITS-inclusive parts: ITS1-5.8S and ITS2 with two pairs of primers.
Results: Nucleotide variation between L. intestinalis and D. interrupta samples amounts to about 3% to 7%. Between samples of L. intestinalis and GenBank data, and also between D. interrupta specimens and GenBank data, the diversity was seen for about 1% to 3%. Moreover, about 1% to 4% nucleotide variation was seen only in L. intestinalis samples caught from the same host, which could be supplementary to the presence of a species and/or strains in this genus.
Conclusion: Maybe D. interrupta was just a rare diplogonadic form of the Ligula species, not a different genus and not synonymous with the Ligula genus, but only another species of the Ligula genus.
2. Luo HY, Nie P, Yao WJ, Wang GT, Gao Q. Is the genus Digramma synonymous to the genus Ligula (Cestoda: Pseudophyllid-ea)? Parasitol Res. 2003; 89(5):419-21.
3. Chubb JC, Pool DW, Veltkamp CJ. A key to the species of cestodes (tapeworms) parasitic in British and Irish freshwater fishes. J Fish Biol. 1987; 31:517–543.
4. Jalali B, Barzegar M. Fish Parasites in Zari-var Lake. J Agric Sci Technol. 2006; 8: 47-58.
5. Hajirostamloo M. The occurrence and parasite host of Ligula intestinalis in Sat-tarkhan Lake (East Azerbaijan-Iran). J Anim Vet Adv. 2008; 7: 221-225.
6. Bouzid W, Stefka J, Hypsa V, Lek S, Scholz T, Legal L, Ben Hassine OK, Loot G. Geography and host specificity: Two forces behind the genetic structure of the freshwater fish parasite Ligula intestinalis (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae). Int J Parasi-tol. 2008; 38(12):1465-79.
7. Britton JR, Jackson, MC, Harper, DM. Ligula intestinalis (Cestoda: Diphyllobothri-idae) in Kenya: a field investigation into host specificity and behavioral alterations. Parasitol. 2009; 136: 1367-73.
8. Yavuzcan H, Korkmaz AS, Zencir O. The infection of tench (Tincatinca) with Ligula intestinalis plerocercoid in Lake Beysehir Turkey. Bull Eur Assn Fish. 2003; 23: 223-227.
9. Dubinina MN. Tapeworms (Cestoda, Lig-ulidae) of the fauna of the USSR Amerind, New Delhi. 1980; 237-260.
10. Li J, Liao X. The taxonomic status of Di-gramma (Pseudophyllidae: Ligulidae) in-ferred from DNA sequences. J Parasitol. 2003; 89: 792-799.
11. Olson PD, Littlewood DT, Griffiths D, Kennedy CR, Arme C. Evidence of the existence of separate strains or species of Ligula in Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland. J Helminthol. 2002; 76(2):171-4.
12. Arme C, Owen RW. Occurrence and pa-thology of Ligula intestinalis infections in British fishes. J Parasitol. 1968; 54(2):272-80.
13. Arme C. Ligulosis in two cyprinid hosts: Rutilus and Gobio. Helmintholgia. 1997; 34: 191-196.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 13 No 4 (2018) | |
| Section | Short Communication(s) | |
| Keywords | ||
| Ligula intestinalis Digramma interrupta Morphology Molecular diagnosis Iran | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
