Molecular characterization of coenurus cerebralis in sheep in mardin province of Turkey

Taenia multiceps is a taeniid cestode that in its adult stage lives in the small intestine of dogs and other canids. The metacestode, known as Coenurus cerebralis, is usually found in the nervous system including brain and spinal card in sheep and other ruminants. The presence of cysts typically leads to neurological symptoms that in the majority of cases result in the death of the animal. Coenurosis could cause high losses in sheep farms because the disease commonly affects young animals. A total of 20 Taenia multiceps isolates collected from naturally infected sheep in Mardin province of Turkey were characterized by sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene. The partial cox1 gene was amplified for individual T. multiceps isolates by PCR and sequenced. The results showed that the cox1 gene sequences were highly conserved inT. multiceps isolates. However, they were quite different from those of the some other Taenia species. Phylogenetic analysis based on partialcox1 gene sequences revealed that T. multiceps isolates were composed of 3 different variants. Key Words: Taenia multiceps, PCR, Sequence Analysis, Turkey.