Evaluation of the Specificity of Five Oligoprobes for Identification of Cyathostomin Species from Horses

Authors

J. E. Hodgkinson, University of Liverpool
S. Love, University of Glasgow
J. Ralph Lichtenfels, Animal Parasitic Disease Lab, ARS, United States Department of AgricultureFollow
S. Palfreman, University of Liverpool
Y. H. Ramsey, University of Glasgow
J. B. Matthews, University of Liverpool

Date of this Version

2001

Comments

Published in the International Journal for Parasitology (2001) 31: 197-204.

Abstract

Here, we report evaluation of five oligoprobes designed from intergenic spacer (IGS) region sequences for identification of cyathostomin species. Oligoprobes were designed for identification of Cylicocyclus ashworthi, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, Cylicostephanus goldi and a fifth probe designed to identify all members of this tribe. PCR amplification of IGS DNA from 16 cyathostomin species allowed sequence comparison and identification of four putative species-specific probes. Southern blotting of amplified products from 16 species showed that all probes were species-specific. The fifth probe recognised all 16 cyathostomin species but did not bind to members of the genus Strongylus. Furthermore, these probes were used to identify individual infective L3, eggs and L4 indicating that they will be invaluable to furthering the study of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of these important equine nematodes.