Identification of Egyptian Fasciola species by PCR and restriction endonucleases digestion of the nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA gene

Abstract

Fascioliasis is one of the familiar zoonotic health problems of worldwide distribution including Egypt. In this study, a simple and rapid polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR/RFLPs) assay, using the common restriction endonucleases Aval, EcoRI, Eael, Sac11 and Avail was applied to differentiate between both Fasciola gigantica and F. hepatica. The five restriction endonucleases were used to differentiate between the two species of Fasciola based on -1950 bp long sequence of the 18S nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA gene. Aval and EcoRI restriction endonucleases failed to differentiate between the two Fasciola species when each restriction enzyme gave the same restriction patterns in both of them. However, F. gigantica and F. hepatica were well-differentiated when their small subunit ribosomal DNA were digested with Eael and Sac 11 restriction endonucleases.