Genetic substructuring within Oesophagostomum bifurcum (Nematoda) from human and non-human primates from Ghana based on random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to study genetic variation within Oesophagostomum bifurcum in Ghana. Four different decamer primers were used for the amplification of DNA from individual O. bifurcum adults (n = 41) from humans and non-human primates (including the Mona monkey, Patas monkey and Olive baboon) from different geographic regions. Analysis of the amplicons from all 41 nematodes by high resolution, denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis defined a total of 326 informative RAPD bands. Cluster analysis of the RAPD data (based on pairwise comparison of banding profiles) showed that O. bifurcum from humans was genetically distinct from O. bifurcum from the Mona and Patas monkeys, and from the Olive baboon. These findings clearly demonstrate the existence of population genetic substructuring within O. bifurcum from different primate hosts in Ghana, and raise interesting questions about host specificity, epidemiology (e.g., zoonotic transmission), and ecology of the different genotypes of O. bifurcum.