Environmental isolation of Pythium insidiosum in tributary of the Tietê River in the Botucatu region, SP

• Grant number: 18/17596-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2018
• End date: October 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Sandra de Moraes Gimenes Bosco
• Grantee: Gabriel Gasparini Camargo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Pythiosis is an emerging disease in tropical and subtropical countries, which mainly affects horses, dogs, cattle, wild animals and humans. The etiological agent of the disease is the oomycete (fungus-like organism) Pythium insidiosum, belonging to the Family Pythiaceae. The biology of Pythium insidiosum includes sexual and asexual reproduction, and in the asexual phase occurs the production of biflagellated zoospores. These zoospores are released into the aquatic environment and seek to establish themselves on plant substrates as part of their life cycle, besides having chemotaxis for keratinous substrates. Zoospores have the ability to infiltrate cutaneous lesions and hair follicles of animals that become in contact with infected water. Many cases of human pythiosis have been reported in Thailand and sporadic cases reported in the United States and only one reported in Brazil, the latter having been diagnosed in the city of Botucatu-SP. Equines that live on the edges of tributaries of the Tietê River, located in the Botucatu region, have been diagnosed with the disease. We aime to collect water samples from tributaries of the Tietê River, in the city of Botucatu-SP, where cases of the disease have already been diagnosed in equines, to isolate the pathogen. The samples will be added to attract zoospores for further isolation of the pathogen in culture medium selective for P. insidiosum (MiPi). After the isolation, the identification of the species will be made by the induction of the zoosporogenesis and by techniques of molecular biology.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DA PAZ, GISELLE SOUZA; CAMARGO, GABRIEL GASPARINI; CURY, JOSE EDUARDO; APOLONIO, EMANUEL VITOR PEREIRA; GARCES, HANS GARCIA; DO PRADO, ANA CAROLINA; CHECHI, JESSICA LUANA; OLIVEIRA, ALANA LUCENA; WATANABE, MARCOS JUN; BAGAGLI, EDUARDO; et al. Outbreak of equine pythiosis in a southeastern region of Brazil: Environmental isolation and phylogeny. TRANSBOUNDARY AND EMERGING DISEASES, v. 69, n. 3, p. 8-pg., 2021-06-10. (18/08009-0, 18/17596-7)

DA PAZ, GISELLE SOUZA; CAMARGO, GABRIEL GASPARINI; CURY, JOSE EDUARDO; APOLONIO, EMANUEL VITOR PEREIRA; GARCES, HANS GARCIA; DO PRADO, ANA CAROLINA; CHECHI, JESSICA LUANA; OLIVEIRA, ALANA LUCENA; WATANABE, MARCOS JUN; BAGAGLI, EDUARDO; et al. Outbreak of equine pythiosis in a southeastern region of Brazil: Environmental isolation and phylogeny. TRANSBOUNDARY AND EMERGING DISEASES, JUN 2021. (18/08009-0, 18/17596-7)