Abstract
There is considerable confusion concerning the relationships among species of Sarcocystis found in donkeys and horses. Here, we describe a Sarcocystis species in Chinese donkeys (Equus asinus). Sarcocysts were found in 12 of 32 (37.5%) adult donkeys. By light microscopy, they were divided into two types, thin-walled and thick-walled. The thin-walled were macroscopic (up to 320 μm wide) and had short club-like protrusions (up to 2.7 μm long); the thick-walled were microscopic (up to 135 μm wide) and had villar protrusions (up to 5.4 μm long). Ultrastructures of the two types exhibited similar morphological characteristics, including bundled microtubules in the core of the villar protrusions penetrating diagonally into the ground substance, similar to wall type 11c. Three genetic markers, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and mitochondrial cox1, obtained from the two morphotypes were sequenced and analyzed. The sequences of the three loci in the two morphotypes presented high intraspecific similarities of 97.2–99.5%, 97.8–99.6% and 99.0 − 99.9%, respectively. The most similar sequences in GenBank to the newly obtained 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA and cox1 sequences were those of Sarcocystis spp. in horses, with similarities of 90.0 − 97.5%, 94.7 − 95.1%, and 82.6 − 84.5%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis using the three genetic markers indicated that the Sarcocystis sp. in donkeys formed an individual clade most closely related to a clade encompassing Sarcocystis spp. in horses. Further studies are needed for taxonomic identification of sarcocysts in donkeys because the Sarcocystis species in donkeys and horses are not successfully cross transmissible despite morphological similarities.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00436-022-07616-2/MediaObjects/436_2022_7616_Fig1_HTML.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00436-022-07616-2/MediaObjects/436_2022_7616_Fig2_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00436-022-07616-2/MediaObjects/436_2022_7616_Fig3_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00436-022-07616-2/MediaObjects/436_2022_7616_Fig4_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00436-022-07616-2/MediaObjects/436_2022_7616_Fig5_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
No other data and material are provided.
References
Cawthorn RJ, Clark M, Hudson R, Friesen D (1990) Histological and ultrastructural appearance of severe Sarcocystis fayeri infection in a malnourished horse. J Vet Diagn Invest 2:342–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/104063879000200418
Doflein F (1901) Sarcocystis bertrami n. sp. In: Die Protozoen als Parasiten und Krankheitserreger, nach biologischen Gesichtspunkten dargestellt. Gustav Fischer, Jena, pp 219–220
Dubey JP, Rosenthal BM (2013) Sarcocystis capracanis-associated encephalitis in sheep. Vet Parasitol 197:407–408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.04.026
Dubey JP, Streitel RH, Stromberg PC, Toussant MJ (1977) Sarcocystis fayeri sp. n. from the horse. J Parasitol 63:443–447. https://doi.org/10.2307/3279997
Dubey JP, Calero-Bernal R, Rosenthal BM, Speer CA, Fayer R (2015) Sarcocystosis of animals and humans, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 249–256
Dubey JP, Van Wilpe E, Verma SK, Hilali M (2016) Ultrastructure of Sarcocystis bertrami sarcocysts from a naturally infected donkey (Equus asinus) from Egypt. Parasitology 143:18–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182015001432
Fayer R, Hounsel C, Giles RC (1983) Chronic illness in a Sarcocystis infected pony. Vet Rec 113:216–217. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.113.10.216
Fischer S, Odening K (1998) Characterization of bovine Sarcocystis species by analysis of their 18S ribosomal DNA sequences. J Parasitol 84:50–54. https://doi.org/10.2307/3284529
Formisano P, Aldridge B, Alony Y, Beekhuis L, Davies E, Del Pozo J, Dunn EK, Morrison L, Sargison N, Seguino A, Summers BA, Wilson D, Milne E, Beard PM (2013) Identification of Sarcocystis capracanis in cerebrospinal fluid from sheep with neurological disease. Vet Parasitol 193:252–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.12.016
Gadaev A (1978) On sarcocysts of ass (Equus asinus). Akad Nauk Uzbecks SSR 1:47–48
Gjerde B (2013) Phylogenetic relationships among Sarcocystis species in cervids, cattle and sheep inferred from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. Int J Parasitol 43:579–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2013.02.004
Gjerde B (2014) Sarcocystis species in red deer revisited: with a redescription of two known species as Sarcocystis elongata n. sp. and Sarcocystis truncata n. sp. based on mitochondrial cox1 sequences. Parasitology 141:441–452. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182013001819
Göbel E, Rommel M (1980) Light and electron microscopic study on cysts of Sarcocystis equicanis in the oesophageal musculature of horses. Berl Münch Tierärztl Wschr 93:41–47
Hinaidy HK, Loupal G (1982) Sarcocystis bertrami Doflein, 1901, a sarcosporidia of the horse. Equus Caballus. Zentralbl Veterinarmed B 29:681–701. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1439-0450.1982.TB01269.X
Hilali M, Nasser AM (1987) Ultrastructure of Sarcocystis spp. from donkeys (Equus asinus) in Egypt. Vet Parasitol 23:179–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4017(87)90003-3
Hu JJ, Chen X, Zuo Y (2001) Ultrastructure of the cyst wall and experimental infectivity of Sarcocystis from donkeys. Chin J Vet Sci 21:145–148
Hu JJ, Liu TT, Liu Q, Esch GW, Chen JQ, Huang S, Wen T (2016) Prevalence, morphology, and molecular characteristics of Sarcocystis spp. in domestic goats (Capra hircus) from Kunming, China. Parasitol Res 115:3973–3981. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5163-6
Kirmse P (1986) Sarcosporidioses in equines of Morocco. Br Vet J 142:70–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-1935(86)90011-4
Kumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C, Tamura K (2018) MEGA X: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis across computing platforms. Mol Biol Evol 35:1547–1549. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy096
Ma CL, Ye YL, Wen T, Huang ZM, Pan J, Hu JJ, Tao JP, Song JL (2020) Prevalence and morphological and molecular characteristics of Sarcocystis bertrami in horses in China. Parasite 27:1. https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2019078
Matuschka FR (1983) Infectivity of Sarcocystis from donkey for horse via sporocysts from dogs. Z Parasitenkd 69:299–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00927871
Matuschka FR, Schnieder T, Daugschies A, Rommel M (1986) Cyclic transmission of Sarcocystis bertrami by the dog to the horse. Protistologica 22:231–234
Mugridge NB, Morrison DA, Heckeroth AR, Johnson AM, Tenter AM (1999) Phylogenetic analysis based on full-length large subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequence comparison reveals that Neospora caninum is more closely related to Hammondia heydorni than to Toxoplasma gondii. Int J Parasitol 29:1545–1556. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7519(99)00150-2
Odening K (1998) The present state of species-systematics in Sarcocystis Lankester, 1882 (Protista, Sporozoa, Coccidia). Syst Parasitol 41:209–233. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006090232343
Odening K, Wesemeier HH, Walter G, Bockhardt I (1995) Ultrastructure of sarcocysts from equids. Acta Parasitol 40:12–20
Passantino G, Lia RP, Latrofa S, Annoscia G, Šlapeta J, Otranto D, Rossi R, Zizzo N (2019) Sarcocystis bertrami in skeletal muscles of donkeys (Equus africanus asinus) from Southern Italy. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Rep 16:100283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vprsr.2019.100283
Rommel M, Geisel O (1975) Untersuchungen über die Verbreitung und de Lebenszyklus einer Sarkosporidienart des Pferdes (Sarcocystis equicanis n. spec.). Berl Münch Tierärztl Wschr 88:468–471
Saville WJA, Dubey JP, Oglesbee MJ, Sofaly CD, Marsh AE, Elitsur E, Vianna MC, Lindsay DS, Reed SM (2004) Experimental infection of ponies with Sarcocystis fayeri and differentiation from Sarcocystis neurona infections in horses. J Parasitol 90:1487–1491. https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-313
Tinling SP, Cardinet GH, Blythe LL, Cohen M, Vonderfecht SL (1980) A light and electron microscopic study of sarcocysts in a horse. J Parasitol 66:458–465. https://doi.org/10.2307/3280748
Zeng W, Sun L, **ang Z, Li N, Zhang J, He Y, Li Q, Yang F, Song J, Morris J, Rosenthal BM, Sun L, Liu H, Yang Z (2018) Morphological and molecular characteristics of Sarcocystis bertrami from horses and donkeys in China. Vet Parasitol 252:89–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2018.01.024
Funding
This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant 2017YFD0500400) and the Natural Sciences Foundation of China (Grant 31460557).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Junjie Hu suggested the overall concept and design of the study and drafted the manuscript. Mingzhu Zhang, Kaiwen Wei, and Zhipeng Wu conducted specimen collection and molecular work. Jun Sun and Shuangsheng Deng performed observation of sarcocysts and data analysis. Jian** Tao provided suggestions for this manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
The present study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Yunnan University (permission number AECYU2018004).
Consent to participate
The authors declare that they have participated in this work.
Consent for publication
The authors declare that they know the content of this manuscript and agree to submit it to Parasitology Research.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Section Editor: Kevin Tan
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, M., Wei, K., Wu, Z. et al. Morphological and molecular characterization of a Sarcocystis species infecting donkeys from China. Parasitol Res 121, 2917–2926 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07616-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07616-2