<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><italic>Dirofilaria immitis</italic>, the agent of canine dirofilariosis, is a common parasite of domestic and wild carnivores with zoonotic potential and worldwide distribution, being endemic in many countries. Bulgaria is among European countries recognized as endemic for this heartworm parasite. In the present study, <italic>D. immitis</italic> adults recovered from pulmonary arteries of domestic dog and golden jackal originating from the Pazardzhik region in southern Bulgaria, and from red fox originating from the Plovdiv region in central-southern Bulgaria, were genetically analyzed in nuclear targets. The first PCR amplification of the internal transcribed region 2 (ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA with previously published <italic>D. immitis</italic>-specific primers yielded single fragments in size of 302 bp that is characteristic for these heartworms. PCR products of three isolates, resulted from the second amplification of the 5.8S-ITS2 region (235 bp) with pan-filarioid primers, were subjected to direct DNA sequencing. Identical nucleotide composition was detected across the screened target region for these Bulgarian isolates. When the 5.8S-ITS2 sequences were phylogenetically compared to the GenBank-retrieved <italic>D. immitis</italic> sequences in a worldwide context, the neighbor-joining analysis has shown three discrete clades. The first clade was composed of <italic>D. immitis</italic> isolates from Europe (including the studied Bulgarian samples), Asia and South America, in the second clade samples from Asia and South America were placed, whereas the third clade was formed by two Brazilian dog isolates originated from the north and southeast part of the country. The purpose of the present study was to verify the taxonomic characterization of <italic>D. immitis</italic> nematodes from Bulgaria based on morphology and compare their genetic structure with filariae obtained from the different world regions using molecular assays. It also summarizes previous epidemiological and ecological studies on the parasite distribution and prevalences in different hosts and regions undertaken so far in Bulgaria.</p></abstract>

Dirofilaria immitis, the agent of canine dirofilariosis, is a common parasite of domestic and wild carnivores with zoonotic potential and worldwide distribution, being endemic in many countries. Bulgaria is among European countries recognized as endemic for this heartworm parasite. In the present study, D. immitis adults recovered from pulmonary arteries of domestic dog and golden jackal originating from the Pazardzhik region in southern Bulgaria, and from red fox originating from the Plovdiv region in central-southern Bulgaria, were genetically analyzed in nuclear targets. The first PCR amplification of the internal transcribed region 2 (ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA with previously published D. immitis-specific primers yielded single fragments in size of 302 bp that is characteristic for these heartworms. PCR products of three isolates, resulted from the second amplification of the 5.8S-ITS2 region (235 bp) with pan-filarioid primers, were subjected to direct DNA sequencing. Identical nucleotide composition was detected across the screened target region for these Bulgarian isolates. When the 5.8S-ITS2 sequences were phylogenetically compared to the GenBank-retrieved D. immitis sequences in a worldwide context, the neighbor-joining analysis has shown three discrete clades. The first clade was composed of D. immitis isolates from Europe (including the studied Bulgarian samples), Asia and South America, in the second clade samples from Asia and South America were placed, whereas the third clade was formed by two Brazilian dog isolates originated from the north and southeast part of the country. The purpose of the present study was to verify the taxonomic characterization of D. immitis nematodes from Bulgaria based on morphology and compare their genetic structure with filariae obtained from the different world regions using molecular assays. It also summarizes previous epidemiological and ecological studies on the parasite distribution and prevalences in different hosts and regions undertaken so far in Bulgaria.

<italic>Dirofilaria immitis</italic> in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

 in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

Dirofilaria immitis, the agent of canine dirofilariosis, is a common parasite of domestic and wild carnivores with zoonotic potential and worldwide...

Dirofilaria immitis in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Aug 05, 2020

Page range: 211 - 218

Received: Feb 14, 2020

Accepted: Mar 27, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2020-0026

Keywords
Genetic, Clade, Golden jackal, Red fox, Dog

© 2020 M. Panayotova-Pencheva, V. Šnábel, V. Dakova, V. Čabanová, S. Cavallero, A. Trifonova, R. Mirchev, Z. Hurníková, Z. Vasilková, M. Miterpáková, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Dirofilaria immitis in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Aug 05, 2020

Page range: 211 - 218

Received: Feb 14, 2020

Accepted: Mar 27, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2020-0026

KeywordsGenetic, Clade, Golden jackal, Red fox, Dog

© 2020 M. Panayotova-Pencheva, V. Šnábel, V. Dakova, V. Čabanová, S. Cavallero, A. Trifonova, R. Mirchev, Z. Hurníková, Z. Vasilková, M. Miterpáková, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Genetic, Clade, Golden jackal, Red fox, Dog