Isolates of Sarcocystis falcatula-like organisms from South American opossums Didelphis marsupialis and Didelphis albiventris from S?o Paulo, Brazil. |
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Authors: | J P Dubey D S Lindsay B M Rosenthal C E Kerber N Kasai H F Pena O C Kwok S K Shen S M Gennari |
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Institution: | United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Parasite Biology, Epidemiology and Systematics Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, USA. jdubey@anri.barc.usda.gov |
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Abstract: | Isolates of Sarcocystis falcatula-like organisms from South American opossums were characterized based on biological and morphological criteria. Sporocysts from intestinal scrapings of 1 Didelphis marsupialis and 8 Didelphis albiventris from S?o Paulo, Brazil, were fed to captive budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Budgerigars fed sporocysts from all 9 isolates became ill and S. falcatula-like schizonts were identified in sections of their lungs by immunohistochemical staining. Sarcocystis falcatula-like organisms were cultured from lungs of budgerigars fed sporocysts from D. marsupialis and from lungs of budgerigars fed sporocysts from 3 of 8 D. albiventris. The 33/54 locus amplified by polymerase chain reaction from culture-derived merozoites contained both a HinfI endonuclease recognition site previously suggested to diagnose S. falcatula and a DraI site thought to diagnosed S. neurona. Development of the isolate from D. marsupialis was studied in cell culture; its schizonts divided by endopolygeny, leaving a residual body. Morphological and genetic variation differentiated this Sarcocystis isolate originating in D. marsupialis from the Cornell I isolate of S. falcatula. This is the first report of a S. falcatula infection in the South American opossum, D. marsupialis. |
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