Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2025
Tissue Collection of Bats for -Omics Analyses and Primary Cell Culture
Published on: October 23, 2019
Molecular Detection and Genotyping of Cryptosporidium spp. Isolates from Bats in Colombia
Carlos Ramiro Silva-Ramos1, Juliana Noriega1,2, Rafael F Fajardo1
1Grupo de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.
Purpose:
Cryptosporidiosis is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium spp., frequently found in several animal species, including bats. Several Cryptosporidium genotypes have been described in bats worldwide, suggesting that bats are infected by host-specific Cryptosporidium spp. To date, there are no published reports about Cryptosporidium spp. in bats from Colombia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the presence and molecular diversity of Cryptosporidium spp. in Colombian bats.
Methods:
A total of 63 gut samples from three bat species served for molecular detection of Cryptosporidium spp. 18S rDNA gene by qPCR. The sequenced amplicons were used in subsequent phylogenetic analyses to identify them as species or genotypes.
Results:
Cryptosporidium spp. qPCR detection occurred in 9.5% (6/63) of bat intestines, and four sequences represented two new genotypes, called Cryptosporidium bat genotypes XIX and XX, were identified.
Conclusions:
This study describes the detection of two novel Cryptosporidium bat genotypes, in two species of bats from a region of Colombia, requiring further studies to determine the relationhip between Cryptosporidium and bats in Colombia.
