• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2020

Echinostoma revolutum is a zoonotic food-borne intestinal trematode that can cause intestinal bleeding, enteritis, and diarrhea in human and birds. To identify a suspected E. revolutum trematode from a red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) and to reveal the genetic characteristics of its mitochondrial (mt) genome, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and complete mt genome sequence of this trematode were amplified. The results identified the trematode as E. revolutum. Its entire mt genome sequence was 15,714 bp in length, including 12 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and one non-coding region (NCR), with 61.73% A+T base content and a significant AT preference. The length of the 22 tRNA genes ranged from 59 bp to 70 bp, and their secondary structure showed the typical cloverleaf and D-loop structure. The length of the large subunit of rRNA (rrnL) and the small subunit of rRNA (rrnS) gene was 1,011 bp and 742 bp, respectively. Phylogenetic trees showed that E. revolutum and E. miyagawai clustered together, belonging to Echinostomatidae with Hypoderaeum conoideum. This study may enrich the mitochondrial gene database of Echinostoma trematodes and provide valuable data for studying the molecular identification and phylogeny of some digenean trematodes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1566-1572
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• 2020

Objective: The extensive breeding of commercial chickens has led to a sharp decrease in the resources of many indigenous chickens, especially the indigenous chickens in the southeastern coastal region, which are on the verge of extinction, and the indigenous chickens in the northwestern region of China, which are also at risk. However, there are few reports on the evaluation of genetic diversity and conservation of genetic resources of indigenous chickens in remote areas in the Northwest of China. Methods: In the present study, the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship of six indigenous chickens from different regions were studied based on variation in mitochondrial DNA control region (D-loop), and the degree of introgression from commercial breeds into these chickens was determined by the amount of haplotype sharing between indigenous and commercial breeds. Results: Twenty-five polymorphic sites and 25 haplotypes were detected in 206 individuals. Principal component analysis showed that the Jingning chicken had the highest genetic diversity among the six indigenous chickens. According to the degree of introgression, the six indigenous breeds may be involved in haplotype sharing with commercial breeds, and the introgression from commercial chickens into the Haidong chicken is the most serious. Conclusion: The genetic uniqueness of indigenous chickens has been eroded, so it is necessary to consider the protection of their genetic resources. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the six indigenous chickens have two major matrilineal origins: one from Yunnan or its surrounding areas in China and the other from the Indian subcontinent.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.217-223
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• 2013

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and the outcomes for patients are still poor. It is important to determine the original type of synchronous multinodular HCC for preoperative assessment and the choice of treatment therapy as well as for the prediction of prognosis after treatment. Aims: To analyze clinicopathologic characteristics and prognoses in patients with multicentric occurrence (MO) and intrahepatic metastasis (IM) of synchronous multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The study group comprised 42 multinodular HCC patients with a total of 112 nodules. The control group comprised 20 HCC patients with 16 single nodular HCC cases and 4 HCC cases with a portal vein tumor emboli. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop region was sequenced, and the patients of the study group were categorized as MO or IM based on the sequence variations. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the important clinicopathologic characteristics in the two groups. Results: In the study group, 20 cases were categorized as MO, and 22 as IM, whereas all 20 cases in the control group were characterized as IM. Several factors significantly differed between the IM and MO patients, including hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), cumulative tumor size, tumor nodule location, cirrhosis, portal vein and/or microvascular tumor embolus and the histological grade of the primary nodule. Multivariate analysis further demonstrated that cirrhosis and portal vein and/or microvascular tumor thrombus were independent factors differentiating between IM and MO patients. The tumor-free survival time of the MO subjects was significantly longer than that of the IM subjects ($25.7{\pm}4.8$ months vs. $8.9{\pm}3.1$ months, p=0.017). Similarly, the overall survival time of the MO subjects was longer ($31.6{\pm}5.3$ months vs. $15.4{\pm}3.4$ months, p=0.024). The multivariate analysis further demonstrated that the original type (p=0.035) and Child-Pugh grade (p<0.001) were independent predictors of tumor-free survival time. Cirrhosis (p=0.011), original type (p=0.034) and Child-Pugh grade (p<0.001) were independent predictors of overall survival time. Conclusions: HBeAg, cumulative tumor size, tumor nodule location, cirrhosis, portal vein and/or microvascular tumor embolus and histological grade of the primary nodule are important factors for differentiating IM and MO. MO HCC patients might have a favorable outcome compared with IM patients.