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Parasitology research2014; 113(12); 4439-4445; doi: 10.1007/s00436-014-4123-2

Molecular and morphological comparison of two different types of Habronema muscae (Nematoda: Habronematidae) in horse.

Abstract: Habronema muscae is a spirurid nematode that undergoes developmental stages in the stomach of equids, causing chronic catarrhal gastritis. Despite preceding investigations have developed polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays for molecular diagnosis, we aimed to assess the applicability of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) sequences to identify the H. muscae infection and to assess the level of intraspecific variations in this parasite obtained from affected horses in Southern Iran. According to the morphological characterizations, two different isolates of H. muscae were identified. Although the majority of the recovered specimens had normal characterizations of H. muscae, a number of parasites showed an abnormal feature as large, asymmetrical, and thick cuticular extensions was observed at their anterior end (head region) in gross and histologic examinations. Unexpectedly, molecular assay disclosed that both morphologically distinct samples were completely identical to each other based on cox1 sequence. Multiple alignment of the cox1 amino acid sequences showed that all polymorphism sites were silent. Also, phylogenetic analysis provided strong support that H. muscae form a sister group to Spirocerca lupi and Thelazia callipaeda.
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Publication Date: 2014-09-12 PubMed ID: 25209616DOI: 10.1007/s00436-014-4123-2Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Comparative Study
  • Journal Article
  • Research Support
  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research focused on a parasitic worm called Habronema muscae, which lives in horse stomachs and causes chronic inflammation. The researchers investigated the genetic and morphological variation in this worm using advanced molecular techniques, revealing unexpected findings about the differences between worm populations.

Introduction and Objective

  • The researchers’ goal was to study a particular worm that causes chronic gastritis in horses — Habronema muscae. This worm is a type of spirurid nematode and exists in developmental stages in equids’ stomachs.
  • Despite previous studies developing methods for molecular diagnosis of this worm using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, the researchers aimed to assess the applicability of a different technique — sequencing of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene — to identify the H. muscae infection and examine the level of intraspecies variation within this parasite in Southern Iran.

Morphological and Molecular Analysis

  • Identifying two distinct types of H. muscae parasites based on morphological traits, the researchers noticed that while the majority of specimens had common features of H. muscae, some parasites exhibited unusual large, asymmetrical, and thick protrusions at the worm’s head.
  • On the other hand, the molecular analysis, specifically the cox1 sequence, revealed that both morphologically different samples were completely identical. In other words, despite the differences in physical appearance, the genetic makeup of both worm types was identical, implying the genetic variation within species is little or non-existent.

Phylogenetic Analysis

  • This part of the study involved the construction of a phylogenetic tree, which is a diagram showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species.
  • The researchers found support through this analysis that H. muscae plays a sister group role to Spirocerca lupi and Thelazia callipaeda, other types of nematode worms. This suggests that these three worm types share a common ancestral species and have diverged from each other over time.

Cite This Article

APA
Rakhshandehroo E, Sharifiyazdi H, Shayegh H, Ahmadi A. (2014). Molecular and morphological comparison of two different types of Habronema muscae (Nematoda: Habronematidae) in horse. Parasitol Res, 113(12), 4439-4445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4123-2

Publication

Parasitology research
ISSN: 1432-1955
NlmUniqueID: 8703571
Country: Germany
Language: English
Volume: 113
Issue: 12
Pages: 4439-4445

Researcher Affiliations

Rakhshandehroo, Ehsan
  • Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
Sharifiyazdi, Hassan
    Shayegh, Hossein
      Ahmadi, Amin

        MeSH Terms

        • Amino Acid Sequence
        • Animals
        • Base Sequence
        • Cyclooxygenase 1 / chemistry
        • Cyclooxygenase 1 / genetics
        • DNA, Helminth / chemistry
        • Gastric Mucosa / parasitology
        • Horse Diseases / parasitology
        • Horses
        • Iran
        • Molecular Sequence Data
        • Phylogeny
        • Polymerase Chain Reaction
        • Sequence Alignment / veterinary
        • Spirurida Infections / parasitology
        • Spirurida Infections / veterinary
        • Spiruroidea / anatomy & histology
        • Spiruroidea / classification
        • Spiruroidea / genetics
        • Spiruroidea / isolation & purification

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        Citations

        This article has been cited 2 times.
        1. Sazmand A, Bahari A, Papi S, Otranto D. Parasitic diseases of equids in Iran (1931-2020): a literature review. Parasit Vectors 2020 Nov 19;13(1):586.
          doi: 10.1186/s13071-020-04472-wpubmed: 33213507google scholar: lookup
        2. Salem MA, El-Gameel SM, Kamel MS, Elsamman EM, Ramadan RM. Innovative diagnostic strategies for equine habronemiasis: exploring molecular identification, gene expression, and oxidative stress markers. Parasit Vectors 2025 Aug 2;18(1):325.
          doi: 10.1186/s13071-025-06970-1pubmed: 40753398google scholar: lookup
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