Molecular characterization of Echinococcus isolates of cervid origin from Finland and Sweden

The species Echinococcus granulosus is made up of several genotypic strain groups, whose taxonomical classification is still undetermined. Genotypes in the cervid-wolf life-cycle are poorly known, especially in Europe. In this study, 33 Echinococcus isolates from cervids from Finland and Sweden were characterized using mitochondrial ND1 gene sequencing. In addition, phylogenetic analysis of E. granulosus strains using the mitochondrial ATP6, ND1, ND3 and CO1 genes was performed using maximum likelihood, neighbour-joining and maximum parsimony methods. The Finnish and Swedish cervid isolates were found to represent the genotype G10. In the phylogenetic analyses, the camel (G6), pig (G7), cervid (G8) and Fennoscandian cervid (G10) strains clustered in a well-supported monophyletic group. This group differed clearly from the common sheep (G1) and horse (G4, 'E. equinus') strains, but was closely related to the cattle strain (G5, 'E. ortleppi'). Our results support the previous studies suggesting that the genotypes G6-10 should be separated from the species E. granulosus sensu stricto. However, additional morphological studies are needed, and the relationship to the cattle strain ('E. ortleppi') should be thoroughly evaluated before a final decision of the taxonomical status of the G6-10 group can be made.