Ancient DNA elucidates the lost world of western Indian Ocean giant tortoises and reveals a new extinct species from Madagascar science.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from science.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Trypanosomes are protozoan parasites of vertebrates that are of medical and veterinary concern. A variety of blood-feeding invertebrates have been identified as vectors, but the role of ticks in trypanosome transmission remains unclear. In this study, we undertook extensive molecular screening for the presence and genetic diversity of trypanosomes in field ticks. Examination of 1089 specimens belonging to 28 tick species from Europe and South America led to the identification of two new trypanosome strains. The prevalence may be as high as 4% in tick species such as the castor bean tick Ixodes ricinus, but we found no evidence of transovarial transmission. Further phylogenetic analyses based on 18S rRNA, EF1-α, hsp60 and hsp85 gene sequences revealed that different tick species, originating from different continents, often harbour phylogenetically related trypanosome strains and species. Most tick-associated trypanosomes cluster in a monophyletic clade, the Trypanosoma pestanai cl
Leishmaniasis is a serious neglected tropical disease that may lead to life-threatening outcome, which species are closely related to clinical diagnosis and patient management. The current Leishmania species determination method is not appropriate for clinical application. New Leishmania species identification tool is needed using clinical samples directly without isolation and cultivation of parasites. A probe-based allele-specific real-time PCR assay was established for Leishmania species identification between Leishmania donovani and L. infantum for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and among L. major, L. tropica and L. donovani/L. infantum for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), targeting hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) and spermidine synthase (SPDSYN) gene with their species-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The limit of detection of this assay was evaluated based on 8 repeated tests with intra-assay standard deviation < 0.5 and inter-
Stock Market | Daily Herald dailyherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailyherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.