Phylogenetic analysis of Spirocerca lupi and Spirocerca vulpis reveal high genetic diversity and intra-individual variation

Abstract

Background: Spirocerca lupi is a parasitic nematode of canids that can lead to a severe and potentially fatal disease. Recently, a new species, Spirocerca vulpis, was described from red foxes in Europe, suggesting a high genetic diversity of the Spirocerca spp. infecting canids. The genetic variation and phylogenetic relationships of S. lupi collected from naturally-infected domestic dogs from Australia, Hungary, Israel, Italy, India and South Africa, and S. vulpis from red foxes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and Spain, was studied using mitochondrial and rDNA markers. Results: A high intra-individual variation was found in the first internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) locus in all Spiro..