Molecular Analysis of the Heterakis dispar Population in Domestic Geese Based on the ITS1-5.8rRNA-ITS2 Fragment

Heterakidosis is a parasitic infection in birds caused by the cecal parasite Heterakis spp. The most common species in geese is H. dispar, the largest avian heterakids species. Because of a scarcity of data concerning the H. dispar population, the aim of this study was the genetic analysis of Heterakis dispar isolated from geese flocks based on the ITS1-5.8rRNA-ITS2 fragment. Among the 71 H. dispar specimens isolated from 20 geese flocks, six haplotypes were determined (A, B, C, D, E, and F). The four nucleotide substitutions were noted in both ITS fragments, and all of them were transitions between adenine and guanine, or thymine and cytosine. The most frequently noted haplotype was type A (45%), followed by type B (18.3%), type C and D (11.3%), type E (8.5%), and F (5.6%). Infection with nematodes from different haplotype groups was noted in 30% of the flocks, with type A being the most prevalent, followed by types B, D, or E to make up 100%. This study represents the first H. dispar population analysis based on the ITS1-5.8rRNA-ITS2 fragment.