Molecular identification of Oesophagostomumspp

Abstract

Oesophagostomumspp. are parasitic nematodes of mammals, including humans and other primates. To identify species and determine phylogeny, we analysed DNA sequences of adult and larvalOesophagostomumfrom wild chimpanzees in Bulindi, Uganda, which inhabit degraded forest fragments amid villages. Oesophagostome larvae and/or eggs from baboons in Tanzania and South Africa and from a Japanese macaque were also sequenced. Based on the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA and partial cytochromec oxidase subunit 1 gene (Cox1)ofmtDNA,O. stephanostomum and O. bifurcum were identified from chimpanzees.