Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T20:11:34.419Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Detection and species identification of Cryptosporidium oocysts using a system based on PCR and endonuclease restriction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

F. M. Awad-El-Kariem
Affiliation:
Departments of Clinical Sciences, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1 7HT
D. C. Warhurst
Affiliation:
Medical Parasitology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WCI 7HT
V. McDonald
Affiliation:
Departments of Clinical Sciences, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1 7HT

Summary

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to produce a 556 bp nucleotide stretch, employing primers based on the published sequence of the 18S rRNA genes in Cryptosporidium parvum and C. muris. This sequence was found to contain 3 Mae I endonuclease restriction sites, 1 of which was present only in C. parvum. Mae I restriction of PCR products from 2 C. parvum isolates (one of human origin and the other of bovine origin), 1 C. muris isolate, and 1 C. baileyi isolate, showed a specific and reproducible profile for C. parvum that was different from the one obtained for both C. muris and C. baileyi. From these data, new Mae I restriction maps were proposed for the three species. The system was then used to screen 6 C. parvum isolates (from human and bovine hosts), and the C. parvum-specific profile was obtained for all isolates examined. It should be possible to adapt this protocol to detect small numbers of C. parvum oocysts in environmental samples (e.g. in water supplies).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Awad-El-Kariem, F. M., Miles, M. A. & Warhurst, D. C. (1992). Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum isolates from the Sudan lack two mutations in pfmdr 1 gene thought to be associated with chloroquine resistance. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 86, 587–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Awad-El-Kariem, F. M., Robinson, H. A., McDonald, V., Evans, D. & Dyson, D. A. (1993). Is human cryptosporidiosis a zoonotic disease? Lancet 341, 1535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cai, J., Collins, M. D., McDonald, V. & Thompson, D. E. (1992). PCR cloning and nucleotide sequence determination of the 18S rRNA genes and internal transcribed spacer 1 of the protozoan parasites Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium muris. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1131, 317–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Casemore, D. P. (1990). Epidemiological aspects of human cryptosporidiosis. Epidemiology and Infection 104, 128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Current, W. L. & Garcia, L. S. (1991). Cryptosporidiosis. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 4, 325–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'antonio, R. G., Winn, R. E., Taylor, J. P., Justafson, T. L., Current, W. L., Rhodes, M. M., Gary, G. W. & Zajac, R. A. (1985). A waterborne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in normal hosts. Annals of Internal Medicine 103, 886–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayes, E. B., Matte, T. D. & O'brien, T. R. (1989). Contamination of a conventionally treated filtered public water supply by Cryptosporidium associated with a large community outbreak of cryptosporidiosis. New England Journal of Medicine 320, 1372–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laxer, M. A., Timblin, B. K. & Patel, R. J. (1991). DNA sequences for the specific detection of Cryptosporidium parvum by the polymerase chain reaction. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 45, 688–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDonald, V., Stables, R., Warhurst, D. C., Barer, M. R., Blewett, D. A., Chapman, H. D., Connolly, G. M., Chiodini, P. L. & McAdam, K. P. W. J. (1990). In vitro cultivation of Cryptosporidium parvum and screening for anticryptosporidial drugs. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 34, 1498–500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McLaughlin, G. L., Vodkin, M. H. & Huizinga, W. H. (1991). Amplification of repetitive DNA for the specific detection of Naegleria fowleri. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 29, 227–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nina, J. M. S., McDonald, V., Deer, R. M. A., Wright, S. E., Dyson, D. A., Chiodini, P. L. & McAdam, K. P. W. J. (1992). Comparative study of antigenic composition of oocyst isolates of Cryptosporidium parvum from different hosts. Parasite Immunology 14, 227–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saiki, R., Gelfand, D. H., Stoffel, S., Scharf, S. J., Higuchi, R., Horn, G. T., Mullis, K. B. & Erlich, H. A. (1988). Primer-directed enzyme amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase. Science 239, 487–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, H. V. & Rose, J. B. (1990). Waterborne cryptosporidiosis. Parasitology Today 6, 812.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webster, K. A. (1993). Molecular methods for the detection and classification of Cryptosporidium. Parasitology Today 9, 263–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed