Sequences of the second internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA for three species of Trichostrongylus (Nematoda: Trichostrongylidae) from sheep in Russia

For the first time, DNA sequence data were obtained for three species of Trichostrongylus from Russia. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of ribosomal DNA was sequenced for T. axei, T. colubriformis and T. probolurus from sheep from the Moscow region. ITS-2 rDNA length was estimated as 238 nucleotides for T. colubriformis and T. probolurus and 237 nucleotides for T. axei. The G+C content of the ITS-2 sequences of T. colubriformis, T. axei and T. probolurus were 31 %, 32 % and 34 % respectively. The level of interspecific differences in ITS-2 of rDNA of T. axei, T. probolurus and T. colubriformis ranged from 3 to 4 %. The ITS-2 sequences from the Russian specimens were compared with those of T. axei, T. probolurus and T. colubriformis from Australia and Germany. Intraspecific variation ranged from 0 % in T. colubriformis to 3.0 % in T. axei.