The U.S. National Parasite Collection--A Century of Service

The U.S. National Parasite Collection will complete its first century of service to the field of animal parasitology in 1992. A brief history of the collection and a description of current policies on deposit and loan of specimens are provided. The collection, started in 1892 by Charles Wardell Stiles and Albert Hassall, now includes several constituent collections: The USNM Helminthological Collection, The USDA Parasite Collection, The Hoffman-Bangham Collection of Parasites of Freshwater Fish, and The Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Diseases Study Collection of Parasites of White-tailed Deer. Major personal collections have been donated by F. W. Douvres, J. H. Fischthal, A. O. Foster, A. Goldberg, E. P. Hoberg, R. Honess, R. A. Knight, D. C. Kritsky, R. E. Kuntz, G. L. LaRue, D. R. Lincicome, E. Linton, G. A. MacCallum, J. H. Sandground, L. Schultz, and H. J. Van Cleave. In addition to Stiles and Hassall, the collection has been curated by B. H. Ransom, M. C. Hall, A. McIntosh, W. W. Becklund, M. B. Chitwood, and the authors of this report. Other USDA researchers closely associated with the collection over the years include B. G. Chitwood, E. B. Cram, G. Dikmans, J. T. Lucker, E. W. Price, and E. E. Wehr. The collection includes about 90,000 lots of specimens, mostly helminths, but also significant numbers of ticks, mites, protozoans, and other miscellaneous parasites. Annually about 600- 1,000 lots are accessioned and 300-400 lots are loaned to researchers around the world

Comparisons of Two Polymorphic Species of \u3ci\u3eOstertagia\u3c/i\u3e and Phylogenetic Relationships within the Ostertagiinae (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) Inferred from Ribosomal DNA Repeat and Mitochondrial DNA Sequences

The first internal transcribed spacer DNA (ITS-1) (rDNA) and the mitochondrial (mt) DNA-derived cytochrome oxidase I gene (COX-1) were enzymatically amplified, cloned and sequenced from 6 nominal species of Ostertagiinae as well as Haemonchus contortus and Haemonchus placei. The portion of the COX-1 gene analyzed was 393 base pairs (bp) in length and contained 33 within species polymorphic base changes at 28 synonymous sites. The ITS-1 rDNA consensus sequences ranged from 392 bp (Ostertagia ostertagi/Ostertagia lyrata, Teladorsagia circumcincta) to 404 bp (H. contortus, H. placei). These data were used both in a distance analysis to assess the concept of polymorphic species within the genus Ostertagia and in parsimony analysis to assess phylogenetic relationships within a limited group of Ostertagiinae. Pairwise similarity scores of both ITS-1 and COX-1 data showed the highest number of conserved sites between the proposed dimorphic species of Ostertagia. The level of similarity was lower in the COX-1 data due to the high number of synonymous base changes. Analysis by maximum parsimony of the same data did not refute O. ostertagiO. lyrata and Ostertagia mossi/Ostertagia dikmansi as dimorphic species and supported monophyly of these ostertagiines relative to representatives of the haemonchine outgroup. In the single most parsi- monious tree from ITS-1 rDNA data, a subclade of Ostertagia spp. included forms possessing parallel synlophes and long esophageal valves that typically occur in cervid hosts

Identification and Characterisation of a cDNA Sequence Encoding a Glutamic Acid-Rich Protein Specifically Transcribed in \u3ci\u3eTrichinella spiralis\u3c/i\u3e Newborn Larvae and Recognised by Infected Swine Serum

Presently, little is known of the mechanism by which Trichinella penetrates and modulates reprogramming of muscle cells. In light of evidence demonstrating strong protective characteristics of antigens derived from this stage, understanding this process may shed light on potential targets for effective abatement of infection. To this end, a PCR-derived cDNA expression library was constructed using 0.5 mg of total RNA from Trichinella spiralis newborn larvae. The library consisted of \u3e125,000 insert-containing clones. Approximately 40-50 × 103 clones were screened immunologically using sera from pigs experimentally infected with 7,000 Trichinella L1. Multiple clones reacting positively with the swine infection serum and encoding portions of a glutamic acid-rich protein were identified. Northern and Southern blots indicated at least two distinct genes that encoded the glutamic acid-rich proteins and that these genes were transcribed specifically in the newborn larvae stage. cDNA sequence data predicted open reading frames of 1,497 and 1,716 bp generating proteins of 498 amino acids and 571 amino acids, respectively. Both sequences consisted of approximately 39% glutamic acid and 16% serine residues, and differed by the presence of a 219 bp fragment present in the 1,716 bp sequence that was absent from the 1,497 bp sequence. PCR data indicated that additional isoforms exist within this gene family that are different in length from those described above. In addition, it was found that more than one isoform can exist within a single worm and that this pattern can vary between individual worms within a population. Mouse antibodies to recombinant antigen localised the glutamic acid-rich proteins to the periphery of the developing stichocyte cells within the newborn larvae consistent with the hypothesis that the newborn larval antigens are secreted

Special Publication Number 4, Checklist Of Types In The U.S. National Parasite Collection

United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industr

Preface [to Identification Keys to Strongylid Nematode Parasites of Equids]

Preface to a special issue of Veterinary Parasitology (v. 156, nos. 1-2, 2008), titled Identification Keys to Strongylid Nematode Parasites of Equids

Morphology of the Synlophe and Genital Cone of \u3ci\u3eParostertagia heterospiculum\u3c/i\u3e (Trichostrongylidae) with Comments on the Subfamilial Placement of the Genus

The genus Parostertagia is referred to the Cooperiinae with reference to a suite of shared characters of the synlophe and genital cone postulated as derived homologies for the subfamily. The genus has traditionally been relegated to the Graphidiinae or Ostertagiinae, but unique structural attributes of the synlophe and genital cone indicate close affinities with the Cooperiinae. The synlophe of Parostertagia heterospiculum is characterized by a relatively low number of ridges in the cervical zone (16-20 at the excretory pore), a frontal axis of orientation, sequential increase in ridges posteriorly, lateral addition of ridges, minuscule lateral-most ridges and hypertrophy of specific ridges in the lateral field of females. The genital cone with a tripartite 0 papilla, a pair of dorsal cloacal papillae (a character potentially homologous with lateral protuberances in some cooperiines, but reported for the first time in this study), and paired 7 papillae supporting a small accessory bursal membrane appear unique among the trichostrongylids. Additionally, Parostertagia was found to possess minuscule cervical papillae and a rudimentary (or reduced?) cephalic and cervical expansion. Inclusion of Parostertagia within the Cooperiinae is based on shared characters with this subfamily (postulated synapomorphies) rather than differences that may be utilized to separate this genus from members of other subfamilies of the Trichostrongylidae

A Redescription of \u3ci\u3eOstertagia bison\u3c/i\u3e is (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) and a Key to Species of Ostertagiinae with a Tapering Lateral Synlophe from Domestic Ruminants in North America

Ostertagia bisonis Chapin, 1925, is an abomasal worm of the American buffalo, Bison bison, and other ruminants including cattle in which it can cause clinical nematodiasis. This report describes characteristics of O. bisonis, especially details of the synlophe and esophagus, that are necessary for constructing a key to the species of medium stomach worms (Ostertagiinae) parasitic in domestic ruminants in North America. The synlophe of O. bisonis is most similar to the single ridge tapering lateral synlophe of Ostertagia ostertagi. Ducts of the subventral glands of the esophagus empty anterior to the cervical papillae and the esophageal-intestinal valve is more than twice as long as wide. We follow earlier workers in considering Ostertagia orloffi Sankin, 1930, a synonym of O. bisonis. Ostertagia bisonis may have more generalized characters than any other species with a tapering lateral synlophe that are parasites of domestic ruminants in North America, but polarization of some characters cannot be considered reliable until additional outgroups are studied

Phylogenetic Systematic Analysis of the Trichostrongylidae (Nematoda), with an Initial Assessment of Coevolution and Biogeography

Phylogenetic analysis of the subfamilies of the Trichostrongylidae based on 22 morphological transformation series produced a single cladogram with a consistency index (CI) = 74.2%. Monophyly for the family was supported by the structure of the female tail and copulatory bursa. Two major clades are recognized: the Cooperiinae clade with the basal Cooperiinae and Libyostrongylinae + Trichostrongylinae, and the Graphidiinae clade with the basal Graphidiinae and Ostertagiinae + Haemonchinae. Dendrograms presented by Durette- Desset (1985) (CI = 56.1%) and Lichtenfels (1987), based on the key to the Trichostrongylidae by Gibbons and Khalil (1982) (CI = 59.0%), were found to be relatively inefficient in describing character evolution and in supporting putative relationships among the subfamilies. Based on the current analysis, the intestine appears to have constituted the ancestral habitat for the trichostrongylids with the stomach/abomasum having been independently colonized in each clade. Assessment of host associations suggests extensive colonization but also a high degree of coevolution with Bovidae and Cervidae for Ostertagiinae + Haemonchinae. Biogeography for this assemblage is complex, but this analysis is compatible with a Palearctic or Eurasian origin for Cooperiinae, Haemonchinae, and Ostertagiina

Cuticular Ridge Pattern in \u3ci\u3eOstertagia gruehneri\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eOstertagia arctica\u3c/i\u3e (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea) from Caribou, \u3ci\u3eRangifer tarandus\u3c/i\u3e

Two species of medium stomach worms are common parasites of the caribou, Rangifer tarandus. The two species, Ostertagia gruehneri Skrjabin, 1929, and O. arctica Mitzkewitzsch, 1929, differ so markedly in morphology of the spicules and genital cone that many nematode systematists place them in different genera. Recent studies of similar pairs of species parasitic in other ruminants have provided evidence that such pairs of species may be morphotypes of one species. The two species from caribou are redescribed with emphasis on the pattern of surface cuticular ridges and the structure of the esophagus, characters considered useful for distinguishing species of trichostrongyloid nematodes. Ostertagia gruehneri and O. arctica were found to have identical ridge patterns and esophageal characteristics. Both species had five lateral ridges, a long eosphageal valve, and ducts for the subventral esophageal glands that opened internally posterior to the level of the cervical papillae