Molecular differentiation of cryptic stage of Echinococcus granulosus and Taenia species from faecal and environmental samples

ObjectiveTo differentiate cryptic stage of Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus) and Taenia by PCR-RFLP and sequence information of amplicon.MethodsDNA were isolated from metacestodes stage of Taenia and E. granulosus using DNA isolation kit (Q-BIOgene kit, USA), the amplified and purified DNA product was then cloned and sent for sequencing. The generating sequence information was used for amplicons identification.ResultsOut of 112 faecal and environmental samples, 16 exhibited positive result. The product size of amplicon positive for E. granulosus was 310 bp; whereas, for Taenia spp. sizes varied from 379 to 388 bp. Restriction profile of actin II with Csp61 also differed Taenia spp. and E. granulosus.ConclusionsThe result of the study indicated that, the primers were useful to differentiate cryptic stage of the two genera which is yet to be reported earlier.