The Distinction of Taenia asiatica from Taenia saginata by PCR of Mitochondrial cox1 Gene Fragment

Objective: To distinguish Taenia asiatica from Taenia saginata by cox1 gene fragment sequence amplified with conventional polymerase chain reaction(PCR) method.Methods: The mitochondrial cox1 gene fragments of Duyun isolates and Congjiang isolates of Taenia asiatica and Taenia saginata were amplified by conventional PCR using specific primers and general primers analysis.The fragments were confirmed by agarose electrophoresis and sequencing analysis.The sequences were compared with those in NCBI database with NCBI Blast.Results: A 260bp fragment was amplified from DNA specimens of 5 Duyun isolates of Taenia,while no same fragment was amplified from DNA specimens of Congjiang isolates when using the same primers.The sequence of the 260bp fragment had a 100% identity with that of T.asiatica mitochondrial cox 1 gene reported in NCBI database.With the general primers for cox 1 gene of Taenia,a 1000bp fragment was amplified from DNA of Congjiang isolates and the sequence showed 99% identity with that of T.saginata mitochondrial cox1 gene reported in NCBI database.Only one base variation was at the specific primer binding loci.Conclusion: T.asiatica could be identified rapidly by conventional PCR of the T.asiatica specific mitochondrial cox 1 gene fragment.But because of variations,this method was not always effective for T.saginata.In these cases,sequencing after PCR with the general primers might be useful.