Table 2.
Sarcocystis spp. and other Sarcocystidae identified by BLASTn analysis of 28S PCR-positive intestinal samples from dead raptors (n = 85) collected in California, USA between 2016 and 2020. The parasite species was matched by BLASTn to the closest reference sequence available in GenBank. Raptor species include Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), northern goshawk (A. gentilis), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), red-tailed hawk (B. jamaicensis), and sharp-shinned hawk (A. striatus).
| Primary infectiona | % homology to GenBank | Secondary infectiona | % homology to GenBank | n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. jamaicensis | 97.0–99.7 | 13 (15.8) | ||
| S. jamaicensis | 97.1 | S. jamaicensis | 96.7 | 1 (1.2) |
| S. jamaicensis | 97.7 | S. jamaicensis or S. (Frenkelia) microtib | 98.7 | 1 (1.2) |
| S. jamaicensis or S. (Frenkelia) microtib | 99.7 | S. jamaicensis or S. (Frenkelia) microtib | 99.3 | 1 (1.2) |
| S. jamaicensis or S. (Frenkelia) microtib | 99.3 | 4 (4.7) | ||
| S. jamaicensis or S. (Frenkelia) microtib | 99.3–99.7 | S. jamaicensis | 97.7 | 2 (2.4) |
| S. calchasi | 100 | 5 (5.9) | ||
| S. turdusi | 98.7–99.7 | 4 (4.7) | ||
| S. turdusi | 98.4 | S. columbae | 99.0 | 1 (1.2) |
| S. columbae | 99.7 | 3 (3.5) | ||
| S. columbae | 99.7 | S. turdusi | 98.7 | 1 (1.2) |
| S. columbae | 99.7 | S. halieti | 100.0 | 1 (1.2) |
| S. columbae | 99.7 | S. jamaicensis | 99.0 | 1 (1.2) |
| S. halieti | 100 | 3 (3.5) | ||
| Eumonospora henryae | 95.7 | 1 (1.2) | ||
| Negative | 28 (32.9) | |||
| Bad quality DNA | 11 (12.9) | |||
| Unreadable sequencesc | 4 (4.7) |
Nine of 85 raptors presented mixed infections, i.e., chromatograms showed clear double peaks in only a few nucleotides. In these cases, two sequences were analyzed separately by combining only the high and low peak nucleotides. The closest BLASTn match for each sequence was considered the primary and secondary infection, respectively.
Eight of 85 raptors had sequences with identical homology percentage to two different sequences by BLASTn for S. jamaicensis and S. (Frenkelia) microti. In these cases, either of these parasites could be considered as the cause of infection.
Sequence considered unreadable when its respective chromatograph presented high background noise or mixed peaks that rendered it impossible to discern between nucleotides.