Sponsor
Angelo State University Office of Sponsored Projects for awarding an Undergraduate Faculty-Mentored Grant, as well as the Beta Beta Beta Foundation Grant to Allie Neila Denham
Published In
Journal of Nematology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Subjects
Roundworm genus Skrjabingylus, Sinus roundworm
Abstract
Carnivores in the families Mustelidae and Mephitidae are essential hosts for the cranial roundworm genus Skrjabingylus. A high prevalence of Skrjabingylus chitwoodorum has been observed in the striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis. Genetic barcoding studies of other nematodes have successfully used the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial gene to analyze genetic variation and divergence. We tested the hypothesis that low population structuring occurs within S. chitwoodorum because M. mephitis is widespread across much of North America and has high levels of gene flow. We extracted DNA from 38 samples of Skrjabingylus removed from the sinuses of M. mephitis and one from the plains spotted skunk, Spilogale putorius interrupta, for amplification and sequencing of COI. Analysis of 492 base pairs confirmed all samples were S. chitwoodorum and showed low genetic divergence (1.0%) within Texas, but high haplotype diversity. Supporting our hypothesis, no obvious divergent lineages based on geographic location were recovered within the samples based on Maximum Likelihood analysis and median joining haplotype network analysis. In fact, samples of Skrjabingylus from New York and South Dakota showed little difference compared with samples from Texas.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2021 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.21307/jofnem-2021-005
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/34978
Citation Details
Denham, Allie N.; Hughes, Malorri R.; Dowler, Robert C.; Negovetich, Nicholas J.; and Ammerman, Loren K., "Genetic Variation within a Species of Parasitic Nematode, Skrjabingylus chitwoodorum, in Skunks" (2021). Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations. 329.
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/34978