Pathology and molecular characterization of Leucocytozoon caulleryi from backyard chickens in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand

Vet World Vol.14 October-2021 Article-8

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(10): 2634-2639

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.2634-2639

Tawatchai Pohuang^1,2, Suphattra Jittimanee^2,3, and Sucheeva Junnu^1,2

1. Division of Livestock Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
2. Research Group for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases in Animals and Zoonotic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
3. Division of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.

Background and Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize Leucocytozoon caulleryi from backyard chickens in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand.

Materials and Methods: Tissue samples were collected from backyard chickens suspected to have leucocytozoonosis and subjected to histopathology examination. The BLAST Tool at NCBI GenBank (Basic Local Alignment Research Tools) (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST) was used to identify the nucleotide sequence of the partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox I) gene. A Phylogenetic tree for analysis of L. caulleryi was constructed by using MEGA 7.0 software (https:// www.megasoftware.net/).

Results: The necropsy results revealed the subcutaneous hemorrhages of pectoral muscles, multifocal hemorrhages of the thymus and pectoral muscles, hemorrhage of the proventriculus and peritoneal cavity, and megaloschizonts of the pancreas and intestine, including subcapsular hemorrhages of the liver. Microscopic examination revealed numerous megaloschizonts of Leucocytozoon spp. in the pectoral muscles, intestine, pancreas, and thymus. Molecular analysis of the partial cox I gene showed that the causal agent was closely related to L. caulleryi reported in Japan.

Conclusion: From these results, L. caulleryi was determined to be the causal agent of leucocytozoonosis and was closely associated with L. caulleryi reported in Japan. Keywords: chickens, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, leucocytozoonosis, megaloschizonts.

Keywords: chickens, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, leucocytozoonosis, megaloschizonts.

How to cite this article: Pohuang T, Jittimanee S, Junnu S (2021) Pathology and molecular characterization of Leucocytozoon caulleryi from backyard chickens in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, Veterinary World, 14(10): 2634-2639.

Received: 06-05-2021 Accepted: 27-08-2021 Published online: 09-10-2021

Corresponding author: Sucheeva Junnu E-mail: sucheeva@kku.ac.th

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.2634-2639

Copyright: Pohuang, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.