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Parasitology International 53 (2004) 223-228

 

Comparison of rDNA sequences from colchicine treated and untreated sporocysts of Phyllodistomum folium and Bucephalus polymorphus (Digenea)*

 

Virmantas Stunzenas1,a, Jason R. Cryanb, Daniel P. Molloyb

 

aInstitute of Ecology, Vilnius University, Akademijos 2, Vilnius LT 2600, Lithuania

bDivision of Research and Collections, New York State Museum, Albany, NY 12230, USA

* Note: Nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are available in the GenBank databases under the accession numbers AF533015, AY281127, AY278565, AY281128, AY282496, AY282497, AY288822-AY288832, AY289238-AY289248.

1Corresponding author. Tel.: +370-5-2729595; fax: +370-5-2729257.

E-mail addresses:stunzen@ekoi.lt (V. Stunzenas), jcryan@mail.nysed.gov (J.R. Cryan), dmolloy@mail.nysed.gov (D.P. Molloy).

 

Received 23 June 2003; received in revised form 17 December 2003; accepted 22 December 2003

 

Abstract

The most frequently used antimitotic agent in cytogenetic studies is colchicine. We investigated whether the initial treatment of trematodes for karyological analysis with colchicine would have mutagenic or degradational effect on rDNA sequences. Dreissena polymorpha is the intermediate host of Phyllodistomum folium and Bucephalus polymorphus, and the sporocyst stage of these trematode species develop, respectively, in the gills and gonads of this mussel. Sporocysts of P. folium and B. polymorphus were obtained from D. polymorpha collected from waterbodies in Belarus and in Lithuania. 5.8S and 28S rDNA genes, ITS1 and ITS2 of P. folium and B. polymorphus were sequenced and compared, and no nucleotide sequence differences between colchicine treated and untreated trematodes were found. Based on these results, we conclude that colchicine treatment for 3-5 h has no mutagenic or degradational effect on rDNA sequences. During the course of this investigation, two genetically different P. folium samples were noted in Belarus.

© 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

 

Keywords: Colchicine; ITS1; ITS2; Ribosomal RNA gene; 5.8S; 28S; Phyllodistomum folium; Bucephalus polymorphus; Dreissena polymorpha