First description of heterogeneity in 18S rRNA genes in the haploid genome of Cryptosporidium andersoni Kawatabi type

The Apicomplexan Cryptosporidium andersoni, is a species of gastric Cryptosporidium, is frequently detected in older calves and adult cattle. Genotyping analyses based on 18S ribosomal RNA gene sequences have been performed on a novel C. andersoni genotype, namely the Kawatabi type, and the oocysts were classified into two distinct groups genotypically: Type A (the sequence in GenBank) and Type B (with a thymine nucleotide insertion not in Type A). This study analyzed 3775 cattle at a slaughterhouse and 310 cattle at a farm using microscopy and found 175 Cryptosporidium-positive animals: 171 from the slaughterhouse and four from the farm, and all infecting parasites were determined to be C. andersoni from 18S rRNA gene sequences determined from fecal DNA. In genotyping analyses with single isolated oocysts, about a half of analyzed ones were clearly classified into well known two genotypes (Type A and B). In addition to these two known genotypes, we have detected some oocysts showing mixed signals of Types A and B in the electropherogram from the automated sequencer (the Type C genotype). To determine the genotypic composition of sporozoites carried by the Type C oocysts, we analyzed their 18S rRNA gene sequences using a single sporozoite isolation procedure. Some sporozoites were classified as either Type A or Type B. However, more than half of the analyzed isolated sporozoites showed a mixed signal identical to that of Type C oocysts, and both the Type A and B signals were surely detectable from such sporozoites after a cloning procedure. In conclusion, C. andersoni carries two different genotypes heterogeneously in its haploid genome.