Further insight into the genetic diversity of Entamoeba coli and Entamoeba hartmanni |
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| Authors: | Christen Rune Stensvold Kasandra Ascuña-Durand Amal Chihi Salem Belkessa Özgür Kurt Ayman El-Badry Mark van der Giezen C. Graham Clark |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Bacteria, Parasites and Fungi, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen S, Denmark;2. Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de San Agustín, Arequipa, Peru;3. Laboratoire de Recherche 'Parasitologie Médicale, Biotechnologies et Biomolécules', LR 16-IPT-06, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Université Tunis El-Manar, Tunis, Tunisia;4. Department of Biology, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, Ziane Achour University of Djelfa, Djelfa, Algeria;5. Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey;6. Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia;7. Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway;8. Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK |
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| Abstract: | Despite the species' wide distribution, studies of the genetic diversity within Entamoeba coli and Entamoeba hartmanni remain limited. In the present study, we provide further insight into the genetic diversity of both species based on analysis of partial nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences generated from human fecal DNAs from samples collected in Africa, South America, and Europe. Reinforcing the previous recognition that E. coli is a species complex, our data confirm the existence of the two subtypes, ST1 and ST2, previously identified plus, potentially, a new subtype, ST3. While ST1 appears to be genetically quite homogenous, ST2 shows a substantial degree of intrasubtype diversity. ST2 was more common in samples collected outside Europe, whereas ST1 showed no geographical restriction. The potentially novel subtype is represented to date exclusively by sequences from South American and African samples. In contrast to previous reports, our new data also indicate substantial variation in E. hartmanni that could also support the establishment of subtypes within this species. Here, however, no links were identified between subtype and geographical origin. |
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| Keywords: | co-evolution DNA-based taxonomy endobionts evolution host specificity protists ribosomal DNA taxonomy |
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