Oxyspirura petrowi is a heteroxenous nematode found in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) of the Rolling Plains ecoregion of Texas. Despite its impact on this popular gamebird, genetic level studies on O. petrowi remain relatively unexplored. To accomplish this, we chose the previously studied nuclear rDNA 18S region as well as the mitochondrial COX1 gene region of O. petrowi to investigate phylogenetic relations between O. petrowi and other nematode species. In this study, we generate primers using multiple alignment and universal nematode primers to obtain a near-complete 18S and partial COX1 sequence of O. petrowi, respectively. Phylogenetic trees for O. petrowi’s 18S and COX1 gene regions were constructed using the Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Parsimony method. A comparative analysis was done based on the nuclear and mitochondrial region similarities between O. petrowi and other nematode species that infect both humans and animals. Results revealed a close relation to the zoonotic eyeworm Thelazia callipaeda as well as a close relation with filarial super family (Filarioidea) such as the human eyeworm Loa loa and Dirofilaria repens eyeworm of dog and carnivores.

Oxyspirura petrowi is a heteroxenous parasitic nematode that has been reported in high prevalences from birds in the Order Galliformes experiencing population declines in the USA. There is a paucity of information regarding the natural history O. petrowi, including the life cycle and effects of infection on wild bird populations. In order to study the life cycle of this parasite, we collected plains lubber grasshoppers (Brachystola magna) from a field location in Mitchell County, Texas. We found third-stage larvae (L3) in 37.9% (66/174) B. magna. We determined that they were O. petrowi through morphological comparison of L3 from experimentally infected Acheta domesticus and by sequence analysis. Then, we showed that B. magna are a potential intermediate hosts for O. petrowi infections in northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) in a laboratory setting by experimental infection. We first detected shedding of eggs in feces using a fecal float technique 52 days post infection. In addition, we recovered 87 O. petrowi from experimentally infected northern bobwhites. Although we detected shedding in feces, recovery of eggs was low (>5 eggs/g). Future work is needed to understand shedding routes and shedding patterns of northern bobwhites infected with O. petrowi.