DNA extraction and a cost-effective detection method for Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces

Most methods of DNA purification from protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus involve the use of expensive kits and may also require a second step after extraction for an effective purification. The present work describes an optimized cost-effective method that is fast and simple. This method is based on a chemical lysis with proteinase K with a subsequent one-step PCR detection. In this study we used already available primers and newly designed primers to amplify two fragments of different size corresponding to the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 gene. By one-step PCR, both fragments were successfully amplified from even a single protoscolex. This result demonstrates that this method of extraction is efficient even with small amounts of sample and that PCR is highly sensitive. The major advantage of this lysis-PCR method is that it avoids a second step of purification resulting in a simpler and more economical method. Our research will serve as a base for future studies on E. granulosus genotyping, mainly with wild mammals with a low number of cysts.