Genetic diversity and relatedness of Fasciola spp. isolates from different hosts and geographic regions revealed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences

The present study examined sequence variability in a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (pcox1) and NADH dehydrogenase subunits 4 and 5 (pnad4 and pnad5) among 39 isolates of Fasciola spp., from different hosts from China, Niger, France, the United States of America, and Spain; and their phylogenetic relationships were re-constructed. Intra-species sequence variations were 0.0–1.1% for pcox1, 0.0–2.7% for pnad4, and 0.0–3.3% for pnad5 for Fasciola hepatica; 0.0–1.8% for pcox1, 0.0–2.5% for pnad4, and 0.0–4.2% for pnad5 for Fasciola gigantica, and 0.0–0.9% for pcox1, 0.0–0.2% for pnad4, and 0.0–1.1% for pnad5 for the intermediate Fasciola form. Whereas, nucleotide differences were 2.1–2.7% for pcox1, 3.1–3.3% for pnad4, and 4.2–4.8% for pnad5 between F. hepatica and F. gigantica; were 1.3–1.5% for pcox1, 2.1–2.9% for pnad4, 3.1–3.4% for pnad5 between F. hepatica and the intermediate form; and were 0.9–1.1% for pcox1, 1.4–1.8% for pnad4, 2.2–2.4% for pnad5 between F. gigantica and the intermediate form. Phylogenetic analysis based on the combined sequences of pcox1, pnad4 and pnad5 revealed distinct groupings of isolates of F. hepatica, F. gigantica, or the intermediate Fasciola form irrespective of their origin, demonstrating the usefulness of the mtDNA sequences for the delineation of Fasciola species, and reinforcing the genetic evidence for the existence of the intermediate Fasciola form.