How many species of whipworms do we share? Whipworms from man and other primates form two phylogenetic lineages.
2015
Abstract: The whipworms, i.e. parasitic nematodes of the genus
Trichuris Roederer, 1761, infect a variety of mammals.
Apparently low diversity of primate-infecting species of
Trichuris strongly contrasts with the high number of species
described in other mammalian hosts. The present study addresses
the diversity of whipworms in captive and free-ranging primates
and humans by analysing nuclear (18S rRNA, ITS2) and
mitochondrial (cox1) DNA. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that
primate whipworms form two independent lineages: (i) the
Trichuris trichiura (Linnaeus, 1771) clade comprised of
genetically almost identical whipworms from human and other
primates, which suggests the ability of T. trichiura to infect
a broader range of primates; (ii) a clade containing primarily
Trichuris suis Schrank, 1788, where isolates from human and
various primates formed a sister group to isolates from pigs;
the former isolates thus may represent of more species of
Trichuris in primates including humans. The analysis of cox1
has shown the polyphyly of the genera Trichuris and Capillaria,
Zeder, 1800. High sequence similarity of the T. trichiura
isolates from humans and other primates suggests their zoonotic
potential, although the extent of transmission between human
and other non-human primates remains questionable and requires
further study.
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