Diagnosis of resistance alleles in codon 167 of the beta-tubulin (Cya-tbb-1) gene from third-stage larvae of horse cyathostomins

Anthelmintic resistance is a serious problem for the control of equine gastrointestinal nematodes. In the present survey, 173 third stage larvae of cyathostomins were investigated from three different locations for the presence of the resistant genotype at codon 167 of the beta-tubulin gene, as this is the most prevalent mutation. The larvae from the state of Parana (n = 67), Sao Paulo (n = 54) and Santa Catarina (n = 52), showed 61.2; 31.5 and 38.5% of the heterozygous resistant genotype - TTC/TAC, respectively. An unpublished mutation at codon 172 that results in a serine (S) to threonine (T) substitution was found in 17.9% (12/67) of samples from Parana; and 13.0% (7/54) of samples from Sao Paulo. We have compared the molecular diagnostic with the fecal egg count data (R2 = − 0.79) from the same farms, and consider that the use of routine molecular diagnostic in individual larva may help to determine the population genetic distribution that is associated with drug failure.