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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Int J Parasitol. 2009 Jun 13;39(12):1363–1372. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2009.04.014

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

Differentiation among tissue cyst-forming parasites infecting sea otters by PCR and DNA sequencing. A) DNA sequence analysis using coccidia-specific 18S rDNA locus primers amplifies a small polymorphic region that distinguishes among common coccidia infecting warm-blooded vertebrates. Polymorphic sites that exist between Sarcocystis neurona (Genbank accession number U07817), Sarcocystis falcatula (U35077), Toxoplasma gondii (EF472967.1) and Neospora caninum (U17346) are highlighted for the region amplified. Periods (.) indicate identity with S. neurona. The numerical position annotated refers to the numbered sites in the published sequence U07817. 5. B) Sarcocystis spp.-specific ITS1500 primers were tested for specificity using DNA from S. neurona, Sarcocystis campestris, Sarcocystis cruzi, S. falcatula, T. gondii, N. caninum, and Hammondia hammondi 18S rDNA control primers established that parasite DNA was present and the ITS1500 primers were highly specific for only S. falcatula and S. neurona. DNA extracts from skeletal muscle (M) and brain (B) of SO1, SO2 and SO3 were amplified using both the 18S rDNA and ITS1500 primers, PCR products were separated in a 1% ethidium bromide-stained agarose gel.