Abstract
Three protein-coding loci in DNA of an Entamoeba histolytica strain (EHMfas1) isolated from cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) were sequenced; these loci corresponded to the genes for chitinase, the serine-rich E. histolytica protein (SREHP), and the 16 S-like small subunit ribosomal RNA (16S-like SSUrRNA). The nucleotide and deduced amino-acid sequences of chitinase and SREHP were compared with sequences from human isolates. EHMfas1 had several specific mutations in units in the polymorphic regions of the chitinase and SREHP loci, with some repetition of these mutated units. The sequence of the 16S-like SSUrRNA gene (16S-like SSUrDNA) was compared with other Entamoeba species. In phylogenetic analysis, EHMfas1 was not categorized in the E. histolytica cluster but between E. histolytica and E. dispar. To our knowledge, this is the first molecular characterization of E. histolytica isolated from cynomolgus monkey, and our results indicate that EHMfas1 may be a subspecies of E. histolytica that infects cynomolgus monkey.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amyx HL, Asher DM, Nash TE, Gibbs CJ, Gajdusek DC (1978) Hepatic amebiasis in spider monkeys. Am J Trop Med Hyg 27:888–891
Ayeh-Kumi PF, Ali IM, Lockhart LA, Gilchrist CA, Petri WA Jr, Haque R (2001) Entamoeba histolytica: genetic diversity of clinical isolates from Bangladesh as demonstrated by polymorphisms in the serine-rich gene. Exp Parasitol 99:80–88
Beaver PC, Blanchard JL, Seibold HR (1988) Invasive amebiasis in naturally infected New World and Old World monkeys with and without clinical disease. Am J Trop Med Hyg 39:343–352
Clark CG, Diamond LS (1991) Ribosomal RNA genes of ‘pathogenic’ and ‘nonpathogenic’ Entamoeba histolytica are distinct. Mol Biochem Parasitol 49:297–302
Clark CG, Diamond LS (1993) Entamoeba histolytica: a method for isolate identification. Exp Parasitol 77:450–455
Clark CG, Diamond LS (1997) Intraspecific variation and phylogenetic relationships in the genus Entamoeba as revealed by riboprinting. J Eukaryot Microbiol 44:142–154
Clark CG, Kaffashian F, Tawari B, Windsor JJ, Twigg-Flesner A, Davies-Morel MC, Blessmann J, Ebert F, Peschel B, Le Van A, Jackson CJ, Macfarlane L, Tannich E (2006) New insights into the phylogeny of Entamoeba species provided by analysis of four new small-subunit rRNA genes. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 56:2235–2239
de la Vega H, Specht CA, Semio CE, Robbins PW, Eichinger D, Caplivski D, Ghosh S, Samuelson J (1997) Cloning and expression of chitinases of Entamoebae. Mol Biochem Parasitol 85:139–147
Ghosh S, Frisardi M, Ramirez-Avila, Descoteaux S, Sturm-Ramirez K, Newton Sanchez OA, Sntos-Preciado JI, Ganguly C, Lohia A, Reed S, Samuelson J (2000) Molecular epidemiology of Entamoeba spp.: evidence of a bottleneck (demographic sweep) and transcontinental spread of diploid parasites. J Clin Microbiol 38:3815–3821
Haghighi A, Kobayashi S, Takeuchi T, Masuda G, Nozaki T (2002) Remarkable genetic polymorphism among Entamoeba histolytica isolates from a limited geographic area. J Clin Microbiol 40:4081–4090
Haghighi A, Kobayashi S, Takeuchi T, Thammapalerd N, Nozaki T (2003) Geographic diversity among genotypes of Entamoeba histolytica field isolates. J Clin Microbiol 41:3748–3756
Jackson TF, Sargeaunt PG, Visser PS, Gathiram V, Suparsad S, Anderson CB (1990) Entamoeba histolytica: naturally occurring infections in baboons. Arch Invest Med (Mex) 21(Suppl 1):153–156
Kohler S, Tannich E (1993) A family of transcripts (K2) of Entamoeba histolytica contains polymorphic repetitive regions with highly conserved elements. Mol Biochem Parasitol 59:49–58
Li E, Kunz-Jenkins C, Stanley SL Jr (1992) Isolation and characterization of genomic clones encoding a serine-rich Entamoeba histolytica protein. Mol Biochem Parasitol 50:355–358
Medlin L, Elwood HJ, Stickel S, Sogin ML (1988) The characterization of enzymatically amplified eukaryotic 16S-like SSUrRNA-coding regions. Gene 71:491–499
Novati S, Sironi M, Granata S, Bruno A, Gatti S, Scaglia M, Bandi C (1996) Direct sequencing of the PCR amplified SSUrRNA gene of Entamoeba dispar and the design of primers for rapid differentiation from Entamoeba histolytica. Parasitology 112:363–369
Rivera WL, Kanbara H (1999) Detection of Entamoeba dispar DNA in macaque feces by polymerase chain reaction. Parasitol Res 85:493–495
Saitou N, Nei M (1987) The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Mol Biol Evol 4:406–425
Silberman JD, Clark CG, Diamond LS, Sogin ML (1999) Phylogeny of the genera Entamoeba and Endolimax as deduced from small-subunit ribosomal RNA sequence. Mol Biol Evol 16:1740–1751
Smith JM, Meerovitch E (1985) Primates as a source of Entamoeba histolytica, their zymodeme status and zoonotic potential. J Parasitol 71:751–756
Stanley SL Jr, Becker A, Kunz-Jenkins C, Foster L, Li E (1990) Cloning and expression of a membrane antigen of Entamoeba histolytica possessing multiple tandem repeats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87:4976–4980
Tachibana H, Kobayashi S, Kato Y, Nagakura K, Kaneda Y, Takeuchi T (1990) Identification of a pathogenic isolate-specific 30,000-Mr antigen of Entamoeba histolytica by using a monoclonal antibody. Infect Immun 58:955–960
Tachibana H, Cheng XJ, Kobayashi S, Fujita Y, Udono T (2000) Entamoeba dispar, but not E. histolytica, detected in a colony of chimpanzees in Japan. Parasitol Res 86:537–541
Tachibana H, Cheng XJ, Kobayashi S, Matsubayashi N, Gotoh S, Matsubayashi K (2001) High prevalence of infection with Entamoeba dispar, but not E. histolytica, in captive macaques. Parasitol Res 87:14–17
Takano J, Narita T, Tachibana H, Shimizu T, Komatsubara H, Terao K, Fujimoto K (2005) Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar infections in cynomolgus monkeys imported into Japan for research. Parasitol Res 97:255–257
Thompson JD, Gibson TJ, Plewniak F, Jeanmougin F, Higgins DG (1997) The ClustalX windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Res 25:4876–4882
Verweij JJ, Vermeer J, Brienen EAT, Blotkamp C, Laeijendecker D, Lieshout LV, Polderman AM (2003) Entamoeba histolytica infections in captive primates. Parasitol Res 90:100–103
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr. Seiki Kobayashi for analyze of zymodeme pattern of EHMfas1. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science and a grant for Research on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Takano, Ji., Narita, T., Tachibana, H. et al. Comparison of Entamoeba histolytica DNA isolated from a cynomolgus monkey with human isolates. Parasitol Res 101, 539–546 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0510-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0510-2