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. 2025 Aug 5:28:101126.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2025.101126. eCollection 2025 Dec.

Molecular identification of the potential fifth species within genus Hydatigera (Cestoda: Taeniidae) in rodents of Guangdong province, China

Jiang Rao  1 , Xinyuan Cui  1 , Yiwen Gao  1 , Yuanjia Hu  1 , Yongyi Shen  2   1
Affiliations

Molecular identification of the potential fifth species within genus Hydatigera (Cestoda: Taeniidae) in rodents of Guangdong province, China

Jiang Rao et al. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. .

Abstract

Hydatigera (Cestoda: Taeniidae) is a recently resurrected genus based on molecular data, comprising only four valid species: Hydatigera taeniaeformis, Hydatigera krepkogorski, Hydatigera parva, and Hydatigera kamiyai. In this study, a total of 479 rodents were collected. In total, 46 livers with visible cysts were observed from five species of rodents collected in three locations of Guangdong province, China, in 2023. Molecular analysis utilizing 18S rRNA sequences indicated that 38 of the 46 liver cysts were infected by Hydatigera, suggesting that this genus represents the predominant tapeworm responsible for the visible liver cysts in rodents. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was further used to obtain the mitochondrial genomes of these tapeworms. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs) and 18S rRNA both demonstrated the formation of two distinct clades: one comprising H. taeniaeformis, and the other representing a novel clade that is positioned as the sister clade to H. kamiyai, exhibiting genetic distance of 11.91 %-12.38 % for the 12 PCGs and 3.22 %-5.25 % for the 18S rRNA. Given the deep inter-species genetic distance, the novel clade identified in this study may be the fifth species within the genus Hydatigera, designated as Hydatigera sp. Both H. taeniaeformis and Hydatigera sp. were found to utilize not only wild rodents (N. huang, N. niviventer and R. andamanensis) but also house rats (R. norvegicus and R. tanezumi) as intermediate hosts. This finding indicates that they may have both sylvatic and synanthropic transmission cycles, raising concerns regarding their potential threat to humans and domestic animals.

Keywords: Hydatigera; Mitochondrial genome; New species; Rodent.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consul-tancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Rodents collected in Guangdong province, China. (A) Histogram of the number of different rodent species. (B) Geographical distribution of the H. taeniaeformis and Hydatigera sp.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Phylogenetic trees of the family Taeniidae utilizing ML and BI methodologies. (A) Concatenated nucleotide sequences of 12 PCGs. (B) 18S ribosomal DNA. All trees were midpoint rooted. Scale bars represent the estimated number of substitutions per site. ML and BI methodologies yield a congruent tree. Posterior probabilities and bootstrap support values or exceeding 70 % were indicated in proximity to the nodes.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The structure and characteristics of the mitochondrial genome of Hydatigera sp.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The synonymous codon usage frequency of the protein-coding genes of Hydatigera sp.
None
Figure S1Representative liver cysts of rodents. The liver cysts observed in wild rodents infected with Hydatigera sp. (A–D) and H. taeniaeformis (E–G).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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