Enterocytozoon Bieneusi and Encephalitozoon Spp
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Deng et al. BMC Veterinary Research (2020) 16:212 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02434-z RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access First identification and genotyping of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. in pet rabbits in China Lei Deng†, Yijun Chai†, Leiqiong Xiang†, Wuyou Wang†, Ziyao Zhou, Haifeng Liu, Zhijun Zhong, Hualin Fu and Guangneng Peng* Abstract Background: Microsporidia are common opportunistic parasites in humans and animals, including rabbits. However, only limited epidemiology data concern about the prevalence and molecular characterization of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. in rabbits. This study is the first detection and genotyping of Microsporidia in pet rabbits in China. Results: A total of 584 faecal specimens were collected from rabbits in pet shops from four cities in Sichuan province, China. The overall prevalence of microsporidia infection was 24.8% by nested PCR targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of E. bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. respectively. E. bieneusi was the most common species (n = 90, 15.4%), followed by Encephalitozoon cuniculi (n = 34, 5.8%) and Encephalitozoon intestinalis (n = 16, 2.7%). Mixed infections (E. bieneusi and E. cuniculi) were detected in five another rabbits (0.9%). Statistically significant differences in the prevalence of microsporidia were observed among different cities (χ2 = 38.376, df = 3, P < 0.01) and the rabbits older than 1 year were more likely to harbour microsporidia infections (χ2 =9.018,df=2,P <0.05).Elevendistinct genotypes of E. bieneusi were obtained, including five known (SC02, I, N, J, CHY1) and six novel genotypes (SCR01, SCR02, SCR04 to SCR07). SC02 was the most prevalent genotype in all tested cities (43.3%, 39/90). Phylogenetic analysis showed that these genotypes were clustered into group 1–3 and group 10. Meanwhile, two genotypes (I and II) were identified by sequence analysis of the ITS region of E. cuniculi. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of microsporidia infection in pet rabbits in China. Genotype SC02 and four novel genotypes were classified into potential zoonotic group 1, suggesting that pet rabbits may cause microsporidiosis in humans through zoonotic transmissions. These findings provide preliminary reference data for monitoring microsporidia infections in pet rabbits and humans. Keywords: Microsporidia, Rabbits, ITS, Microsporidiosis, China * Correspondence: [email protected] †Lei Deng, Yijun Chai, Leiqiong Xiang and Wuyou Wang contributed equally to this work. The Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Deng et al. BMC Veterinary Research (2020) 16:212 Page 2 of 8 Background [13]. Rabbits have been reported to harbor various zoo- Microsporidia, as obligate intracellular parasites and clas- notic species (e.g., Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Microspor- sified as fungi, are emerging opportunistic pathogens that idia, and Toxoplasma gondii) and are considered to be a can infect many invertebrates and vertebrates, including potential source of human infections [14, 15]. However, humans and rabbits [1]. To date, the phylum Microspori- only limited information is available on E. bieneusi and dia consists of at least 200 genera and 1500 species, of Encephalitozoon spp. infection in pet rabbits in China. which 17 microsporidia species have been detected in Moreover, pet rabbits are popular companions and their humans [2, 3]. Among them, Enterocytozoon bieneusi and close relationship with humans may represent a still not Encephalitozoon spp. (including E. cuniculi, E. hellem,and completely understood health threat. Therefore, the pur- E. intestinalis) are the four most common microsporidia pose of the present study was to determine the preva- species that infect humans, domestic animals, and wildlife lence and molecular characteristics of microsporidia in [4, 5]. Microsporidia are often considered as a major faecal samples of pet rabbits, as well as to assess the zoo- pathogen of chronic diarrhea in severely immune- notic potential of these pathogens. compromised patients, such as AIDS patients and solid organ transplant recipients [6]. Besides, the discovery of Results microsporidia in water sources intended for human con- Prevalence of E. bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. sumption has made it a Category B Priority Pathogen A total of 584 faecal samples of pet rabbits from 12 pet listed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and it shops in four cities in Sichuan province of southwestern has also been listed by the United States Environmental of China were examined using molecular methods. The Protection Agency (EPA) as a microbial pollutant poten- specific primers for E. bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. tially causing waterborne outbreaks [1, 7]. were used to determine the presence of microsporidia. More than 470 E. bieneusi genotypes have been identi- In total, 24.8% (145/584) of the rabbits were found in- fied in humans and animals based on sequence analysis fected with microsporidians. Single-species infection was of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of riboso- detected in 90 rabbits (15.4%) for E. bieneusi. 34 (5.8%) mal RNA (rRNA), with more new genotypes continually and 16 (2.7%) E. cuniculi and E. intestinalis mono- being found [8]. Some of these genotypes are considered infections were identified respectively (Table 1). Ence- to be host-specific, while others have zoonotic potential phalitozoon hellem was not identified in the surveyed (e.g., SC02, D, EbpC, J, I and Type IV) [9]. Based on the population. In addition, 5 samples were identified as co- number of 5′-GTTT-3′ repeats in the ITS sequence, infection (0.9%) (Table 1). four distinct genotypes (genotype I -IV) of E. cuniculi Microsporidia-positive samples were detected in all have been identified [10, 11]. E. hellem also has four ge- tested cities, and the prevalence of microsporidia ranged notypes (1 to 4) by analysis of the ITS sequence [12]. from 12.0 to 47.2% (χ2 = 38.376, df = 3, P < 0.01) (Table However, no intraspecific variation in the ITS sequence 1). The Dutch breed (28.3%) had a higher susceptibility of E. intestinalis has been detected thus far. to microsporidia infection than other breeds; however, In China, E. bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. have the differences among pet rabbit breeds were not signifi- been identified in a broad range of wild and domestic cant (χ2 = 3.140, df = 5, P > 0.05) (Table 2). The preva- animal hosts, including mammals, reptiles, and birds lence in rabbits ≥12 months of age was significantly Table 1 The prevalence and genotype distribution of microsporidia in pet rabbits in southwestern China Location No. positive/ PCR positive No. tested E. bieneusi E. cuniculi E. Mixed infection (%) intestinalis No. (%) Genotype (n) No. (%) Genotype No. (%) No. Genotype (n) (n) (%) Chengdu 70/313 (22.4) 44 SC02 (21), I (6), J (5), N, (8), SCR01 (1), 17 (5.4) I (11), II (6) 7 (2.2) 2 (0.6) SC02 + I (1), J + I (1) (14.1) SCR02 (1), SCR06 (2) Luzhou 9/75 (12.0) 7 (9.3) SC02 (3), I (3), J (1) 0 0 2 (2.7) 0 0 Yaan 50/106 (47.2) 25 SC02 (8), I (7), I (5), N (3), SCR04 (1), 15 I (8), II (7) 7 (6.6) 3 (2.8) SC02 + I (2), J + II (1) (23.6) CHY1 (1) (14.2) Ziyang 16/90 (17.8) 14 SC02 (7), I (2), SCR05 (2), SCR07 (3) 2 (2.2) II (2) 0 0 0 (15.6) Total 145/584 90 SC02 (39), I (21), N (13), J (6), CHY1 (1), 34 (5.8) I (19), II (15) 16 (2.7) 5 (0.9) SC02 + I (3), J + II (1), J + I (24.8) (15.4) SCR01 (1), SCR02 (1), SCR04 (1), SCR05 (2), (1) SCR06 (2), SCR07 (3) Note: genotype CHY1 is a synonym of genotype S7 Deng et al. BMC Veterinary Research (2020) 16:212 Page 3 of 8 Table 2 The prevalence of microsporidia in pet rabbits by breed, age, and sex in southwestern China Group No. of tested No. of positive Prevalence (%) 95% CI P-value Breed Dutch rabbit 205 58 28.3 22.1–34.5 0.68 New Zealand Rabbit 97 24 24.7 16.2–33.3 Lop ear rabbit 94 20 21.3 13.0–29.6 Pygmy rabbit 80 18 22.5 13.3–31.7 Pearl rabbit 65 17 26.2 15.5–36.8 Lion head rabbit 43 8 18.6 7.0–30.2 Age (months) ≤ 6 165 41 24.8 18.3–31.4 0.01 6–12 316 67 21.2 16.7–25.7 ≥ 12 103 37 35.9 26.7–45.2 Sex Male 319 82 25.7 20.9–30.5 0.59 Female 265 63 23.8 18.6–28.9 higher (35.9%) than those at 6–12 months of age (21.2%) novel genotypes within the 243 bp of the ITS sequence (χ2 = 9.018, df = 2, P < 0.05).