Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #73485
Title: GENOTYPIC VARIATIONS BETWEEN STRAINS OF ASIAN TAENIA

Author
item EOM, K - CHUNGBUK NATIONAL UNIV
item RIM, H - KOREA UNIVERSITY
item Zarlenga, Dante

Submitted to: International Congress on Tropical Medicine and Malaria
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/12/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A third genotype of human Taenia distributed primarily within Asian countries has been identified that has a life cycle distinct from Taenia saginata and Taenia solium. Eom and Rim (1993) have recently named the tapeworm, Taenia asiatica, using a morphological description from Korean isolates. The metacestode stage, referred to as Cysticercus viscerotropica, resides in the liver and visceral organs of the intermediate host, tentatively reported to be pigs. Muscle stages have not been identified with this metacestode which shows closer morphological similarities to C. cellulosae than to C. bovis. The taxonomic status of this tapeworm, originally reported from Taiwan, is presently unresolved and has been secondarily reported as T. saginata taiwanensis by Fan et al. (1993) based upon similarities in adult morphology and in mitochondrial and ribosomal DNA sequences (Bowles and McManus, 1994; Zarlenga et al. 1991) between the Asian taeniid and T. saginata. The present study utilizes random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and simple sequence repeat primers (SSR) to further compare these two genotypes. Findings suggest that there are multiple, genetically distinct isolates of Taenia asiatica within Asian countries. Results will be discussed in terms of the relationship this genetic diversity may have with the apparent biological and morphological differences observed among the Taiwanese and Korean isolates.