Phylogenetic Tree Analysis Based on Partial Gene Sequencing of the Mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit I (COX1) Gene of Hydatid Cysts from Patients, Wasit Province, Iraq

Hussein A. Ahmed; Baraa A. Hraija; Dhamyaa Kareem Kadhim

Hussein A. Ahmed Department of General surgery, College of Medicine, Wasit University, Kut, Iraq.
Baraa A. Hraija Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Wasit University, Kut, Iraq
Dhamyaa Kareem Kadhim Department of Anatomy and Biology, College of Medicine, Wasit University, Kut, Iraq

Keywords: COX1, Echinococcus, hydatid cyst

Abstract

Background: Echinococcosis is a disease that affects large proportion of humans around the world due to exposure to the larvae of the Echinococcus spp tapeworms. The disease overwhelms surgeons especially in Iraq due to high numbers of cases. The disease control according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is costing the world billions of US dollars annually. Objectives: The current database information about the hydatid cyst (HC) phylogeny in Iraq is obscure, therefore the present work was conducted to identify the current circulating strains of E. granulosus in Iraq and their genetic links to world strains. Patients and methods: From Al Karama Teaching Hospital, Kut, Wasit, Iraq, 10 HC samples were collected from 10 patients who undergone surgical interventions to remove the cysts. The samples were investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and partial gene sequencing (PGS) techniques that targeted the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX1) gene of the HCs. Results: The PCR findings confirmed that the HCs belonged to E.granulosus. Like the PCR, PGS assured the HC identity of E.granulosus plus declared that some local samples were in high nucleotide similarity with strains from the western, eastern, and middle eastern regions of the world. Conclusions: Thecirculating local strains in the sampled region of Iraq represent close similarity to some world strains referring to virulent potential or geographical links between these isolates.

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