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Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Eimeria spp. Infecting Domestic Poultry Gallus gallus in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia.

Mohammed M MaresSaleh Al-QuraishyRewaida A Abdel-GaberMutee Murshed
Published in: Microorganisms (2023)
Coccidiosis in chickens is one of the major problems in the poultry industry, caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria . The current study used morphological and molecular characteristics to identify Eimeria spp. infecting domestic chickens ( Gallus gallus) in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia. In this study, 120 domestic poultry were examined and 30 were found to be infected with oocysts of Eimeria spp. (25%). According to the morphology of the recorded oocysts, five species were found. Eimeria necatrix was the first species discovered, and it was distinguished by oblong, ovoid-shaped oocysts with double-layered walls that measured 20 (23-23) and 17 (16-20) μm. The second species was Eimeria maxima , which had oval- to egg-shaped oocysts with double-layered walls and measurements of 28 (26-29) and 23 (20-24) μm. The third species was Eimeria tenella , characterized by oval-shaped oocysts with double-layered walls and measurements of 21 (20-24) × 17 (16-20) μm. Eimeria praecox was the fourth species that was characterized by spherical-shaped oocysts with single-layered walls and measurements of 21 (19-23) × 20 (19-20) μm. Eimeria acervulina was the last species to have oval-shaped oocysts with double-layered walls and measurements of 20 (18-25) and 17 (14-20) μm. The percentages of infection with Eimeria species were as follows: E. tenella, 10.84%; E. necatrix, 5.84%; E. acervulina, 4.16%; E. maxima, 2.5%; and E. praecox, 1.66%. Nested PCR based on the amplification of internal transcribed spacer I (ITS-I) regions confirmed the presence of the five Eimeria species in the examined fecal samples with their specific amplicon sizes: E. necatrix (383 bp), E. maxima (145 bp), E. tenella (278 bp), E. praecopx (116 bp), and E. acervulina (321 bp).
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