Electrophoretic detection of population variation within Contracaecum ogmorhini (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea: Anisakidae)

This study examined genetic variation among specimens of Contracaecum ogmorhini from different otariid hosts and geographical origins using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based mutation detection approach. The first (ITS-1) and second (ITS-2) internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were amplified individually by PCR, scanned for sequence variation by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and samples displaying variable SSCP profiles were subjected to cycle sequencing. While C. ogmorhini individuals from Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus (CoAPP) from South Africa and those from Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus (CoAPD) from Australia had very similar SSCP profiles for both ITS-1 and ITS-2, individuals of C. ogmorhini from Zalophus californianus (CoZC) from Pacific Canada could be unequivocally distinguished based on their profiles. In accordance with SSCP results, both CoAPP and CoAPD had identical ITS consensus sequences, whereas CoZC differed in sequence from both CoAPP and CoAPD populations by 0.2% (one base in the ITS-1) and 0.7% (two bases in the ITS-2). Based on the nucleotide difference in the ITS-2 sequence, a PCR-linked restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) could be employed to distinguish individuals representing CoZC from those of both CoAPP and CoAPD. The findings suggest that C. ogmorhini may represent a complex of at least two species.