Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 February 2017 Isolation and RFLP Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in Free-Range Chickens (Gallus domesticus) in Grenada, West Indies, Revealed Widespread and Dominance of Clonal Type III Parasites
Alfred Chikweto, Ravindra N. Sharma, Keshaw P. Tiwari, Shiv K. Verma, Rafael Calero-Bernal, Tiantian Jiang, Chunlei Su, Oliver C. Kwok, Jitender P. Dubey
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The objectives of the present cross-sectional study were to isolate and genotype Toxoplasma gondii in free-range chickens from Grenada, West Indies. Using the modified agglutination test, antibodies to T. gondii were found in 39 (26.9%) of 145 free-range chickens with titers of 25 in 7 chickens, 50 in 6 chickens, 100 in 2 chickens, and 200 or higher in 24 chickens. The hearts of the 39 seropositive chickens were bioassayed in mice; viable T. gondii was isolated from 20 and further propagated in cell culture. Genotyping of T. gondii DNA extracted from cell-cultured tachyzoites using the 10 PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico revealed 4 genotypes, including ToxoDB PCR-RFLP no. 2 (Type III), no. 7, no. 13, and no. 259 (new). These results indicated that T. gondii population genetics in free-range chickens seems to be moderately diverse with ToxoDB no. 2 (Type III) as the most frequent (15/20 = 75%) compared to other genotypes in Grenada.

© American Society of Parasitologists 2017
Alfred Chikweto, Ravindra N. Sharma, Keshaw P. Tiwari, Shiv K. Verma, Rafael Calero-Bernal, Tiantian Jiang, Chunlei Su, Oliver C. Kwok, and Jitender P. Dubey "Isolation and RFLP Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in Free-Range Chickens (Gallus domesticus) in Grenada, West Indies, Revealed Widespread and Dominance of Clonal Type III Parasites," Journal of Parasitology 103(1), 52-55, (1 February 2017). https://doi.org/10.1645/15-945
Received: 22 December 2015; Accepted: 1 October 2016; Published: 1 February 2017
Back to Top