Genotypes And Zoonotic Potential Of Enterocytozoon Bieneusi In Rhesus Monkeys

As an opportunistic pathogenic organism of zoonotic,Enterocytozoon bieneusi is still not able to be treated or controlled effectively,and its epidemic mechanism is poorly understood.Rhesus monkeys in China are resourceful,with a various habitat environment,researches and analysis on rhesus monkeys can not only help us to understand its health status,but also provides a powerful data for studying the infection and epidemic mechanism of E.bieneusi.At present,there are few reports about the infection of E.bieneusi in rhesus macaques in China,and few of rhesus macaques population has been investigated.In this paper,522 fecal samples was collected from 11 captive,7 wild and 3 semi-wild rhesus monkey populations in China.Using the ribosomal DNA internal transcriptional interval region sequence ITS)as the molecular marker,the epidemiological investigation,genotyping and zoonotic potential analysis of E.bieneusi were conducted by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)amplification.The main results are as follows:(1)Among the 21 rhesus monkey populations,17 of them were detected with E.bieneusi,with an average infection rate of 12.5%,indicating that the prevalence of E.bieneusi in rhesus monkey populations in China is relatively common.The highest individual infection rate among 17 rhesus monkey populations was 56.5%,but most of them ranged from 4% to 17%.Comparing the infection in different populations,it was found that the infection rate of E.bieneusi in rhesus monkeys might be related to the contact degree between the population and potential transmission sources,favorable environmental hygiene and breeding management can reduce the infection rate of E.bieneusi effectively.(2)A total of 17 E.bieneusi genotypes were identified in this study,among which 13(mul1-mul13)were newly discovered genotypes for the first time,and 4(D,CM1,EbpC,SCC2)had been reported before.Among the known genotypes,D and EbpC have been proved to have zoonotic potential;CM1 and SCC2 have not been found in human infection so far,SCC2 was found in rhesus monkeys for the first time.(3)In this study,it was found that the E.bieneusi genotype D appeared in 13 rhesus monkey populations,while the genotype CM1 was only found in captive rhesus monkeys,and the genotype EbpC was only found in wild and semi-wild rhesus monkeys.This indicates that the E.bieneusi in rhesus monkeys in different environments had a certain specificity,in addition to the genotype D which was widely distributed in rhesus monkeys in China.(4)The phylogenetic relationship showed that 11 of the 13 newly discovered genotypes were grouped into one group(Group1)which indicated that these genotypes might have zoonotic potential.It showed that rhesus monkeys are important carriers of zoonotic E.bieneusi,which might cause public health risks.