Cryptosporidium, Tyzzer, 1907

Carrera-J, Patricio D., ativa, Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo & Munoz ˜, Pamela, 2024, Molecular detection of Cryptosporidium parvum in wild rodents (Phyllotis darwini) inhabiting protected and rural transitional areas in north-central Chile, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 24 (4), pp. 123153-123153 : 123153-

3.2. Molecular detection of Cryptosporidium

DNA was extracted from the 54 fecal samples exhibiting Cryptosporidium oocyst-compatible structures. The successful DNA extraction was proven in 43 out of the 54 samples based on the positive PCR reactions with products of amplicons of the expected size for the gapdh gene (i.e., 400 bp) (ESM 2).

For the 18S rRNA gene ( Mu˜noz et al., 2011), a ~500-base-pair amplicon specific to Cryptosporidium spp. was amplified in 27 out of the 43 samples (ESM 3). For the gp60 gene ( Alves et al., 2003), an ~800-base-pair amplicon was amplified in 23 out of the 43 fecal samples (ESM 4). A total of 34 fecal samples were found to be positive for

4

Cryptosporidium sp. by PCR analyses with products of amplicons of the expected size for either the 18S rRNA and gp60 genes. Therefore, the occurrence of Cryptosporidium infection in Phyllotys darwini in north-central Chile was 13.7 % (34/247; 95% CI = 8.7–17.3 %). A summary of parasitological and molecular results are shown in ESM5.