Detection and Molecular Characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in turtles (Chelonoidis carbonaria and Chelonoidis denticulata) by Real-Time PCR and genetic sequencing

• Grant number: 18/18100-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Vasconcelos Meireles
• Grantee: Gabriel Rocha Ferreira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMVA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cryptosporidiosis is a disease of worldwide distribution caused by Cryptosporidium spp., which parasites humans and several animals, including reptiles, with reports on lizards, snakes and chelonians. Even without evidence that cryptosporidiosis can be transmitted from animals to humans, Cryptosporidium is considered to be potentially zoonotic. This study aims to perform the detection and the molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in fecal samples from turtles (Chelonoidis carbonaria and Chelonoidis denticulata). Ninety turtle faecal samples will be collected, from both sex and different ages, in a reptile enclosure at the Araçatuba's Municipal Zoo in the state of São Paulo. The identification of parasite species or genotype will be performed by real-time nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplification of fragments of the 18S subunit of ribosomal RNA gene of Cryptosporidium spp., followed by sequencing the amplified fragments.