This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sréter, T.
Right arrow Articles by Varga, I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sréter, T.
Right arrow Articles by Varga, I.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Sréter, T.
Right arrow Articles by Varga, I.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2000, p. 735-738, Vol. 66, No. 2
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Morphologic, Host Specificity, and Molecular Characterization of a Hungarian Cryptosporidium meleagridis Isolate

Tamás Sréter,1 Gábor Kovács,2 Alexandre J. da Silva,3 Norman J. Pieniazek,3,* Zoltán Széll,1 Mihály Dobos-Kovács,1 Károly Márialigeti,2 and István Varga1

Departments of Parasitology and Pathology, Szent István University Faculty of Veterinary Science,1 and Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University,2 Budapest, Hungary; and Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia 30341-37243

Received 10 September 1999/Accepted 1 November 1999

This study was undertaken in order to characterize Cryptosporidium meleagridis isolated from a turkey in Hungary and to compare the morphologies, host specificities, organ locations, and small-subunit RNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences of this organism and other Cryptosporidium species. The phenotypic differences between C. meleagridis and Cryptosporidium parvum Hungarian calf isolate (zoonotic genotype) oocysts were small, although they were statistically significant. Oocysts of C. meleagridis were successfully passaged in turkeys and were transmitted from turkeys to immunosuppressed mice and from mice to chickens. The location of C. meleagridis was the small intestine, like the location of C. parvum. A comparison of sequence data for the variable region of the SSU rRNA gene of C. meleagridis isolated from turkeys with other Cryptosporidium sequence data in the GenBank database revealed that the Hungarian C. meleagridis sequence is identical to a C. meleagridis sequence recently described for a North Carolina isolate. Thus, C. meleagridis is a distinct species that occurs worldwide and has a broad host range, like the C. parvum zoonotic strain (also called the calf or bovine strain) and Cryptosporidium felis. Because birds are susceptible to C. meleagridis and to some zoonotic strains of C. parvum, these animals may play an active role in contamination of surface waters not only with Cryptosporidium baileyi but also with C. parvum-like parasites.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Mail Stop F-13, Biology and Diagnostics Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA, 30341-3724. Phone: (770) 488-4073. Fax: (770) 488-4108. E-mail: nxp3{at}cdc.gov.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2000, p. 735-738, Vol. 66, No. 2
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Akiyoshi, D. E., Dilo, J., Pearson, C., Chapman, S., Tumwine, J., Tzipori, S. (2003). Characterization of Cryptosporidium meleagridis of Human Origin Passaged through Different Host Species. Infect. Immun. 71: 1828-1832 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Guyot, K., Follet-Dumoulin, A., Recourt, C., Lelievre, E., Cailliez, J. C., Dei-Cas, E. (2002). PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis of a Diagnostic 452-Base-Pair DNA Fragment Discriminates between Cryptosporidium parvum and C. meleagridis and between C. parvum Isolates of Human and Animal Origin. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 2071-2076 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jellison, K. L., Hemond, H. F., Schauer, D. B. (2002). Sources and Species of Cryptosporidium Oocysts in the Wachusett Reservoir Watershed. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 569-575 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»