COUPLING MORPHOLOGY WITH MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF EIMERIA SPECIES IN ALPINE MARMOTS

INTRODUCTION: The identification of eimeria species in the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota), and in general in the Tribe Marmotini (Sciuridae), is based on morphological description of sporulated oocysts. The presence of morphologically indistinguishable species and the lack of information on host- specificity led, over time to the generation of redundant records, with obsolete descriptions. This study aimed at associating the morphological description of oocysts, historically reported in the Alpine marmot to molecular data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Single eimeria oocysts, from naturally infected marmots were isolated from freshly collected fecal samples and sporulated under laboratory conditions. Morphometric and morphological description of single oocysts (n=160 oocysts) were carried out. Total genomic DNA was extracted from individual oocysts and a specific portion of the 18S rDNA was amplified to associate morphological characters to genetic information. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the presence of at least three species of eimeria in M. marmota which were identified as e. lateralis, e. monacis and e. callospermo- phili