Genetic variation and population structure of Taenia multiceps (Coenurus cerebralis) based on mitochondrial cox1 gene: A comprehensive global analysis

Taenia multiceps is a neglected parasite having veterinary and public health importance. The predilection sites of the parasite larva (Coenurus cerebralis) are brain (cerebral coenurosis) and subcutaneous (non-cerebral coenurosis). There is a dearth of data regarding molecular characterization of T. multiceps and even fewer population structure-based studies on T. multiceps. The current study was conducted to provide epidemiological information regarding the global population structure of the parasite. The NCBI GenBank database was accessed to download the sequences of cox1 gene, which were further subjected to PopArt software to construct median-joining networks. The DnaSp software was used to compute neutrality and diversity indices. Host and region-wise indices of neutrality and diversity were also computed. There were 166 gene sequences found in the NCBI database. Followed by removal of short gene sequences, 143 were considered to perform bioinformatic analyses. A total of 30 haplotypes with 46 mutations and 23 parsimony informative sites were found. High diversity (Hd = 0.889, π = 0.01186) and negative but statistically insignificant neutrality indices (Tajima's D = -1.57659, Fu's Fs = -10.552) were found. Region-wise results revealed highest haplotype diversities in isolates from KSA (Hd = 1.00) followed by Greece and Italy (Hd = 0.962), and China (Hd = 0.931). Host-wise data analysis showed an overall negative Tajima's D value and there exists highest haplotype diversity in cattle (Hd = 1.00) followed by dogs (Hd = 0.833), sheep (Hd = 0.795) and goats (Hd = 0.788). The findings of the study indicate that the population diversity of T. multiceps will increase worldwide as shown by high diversity and negative neutrality indices. The findings of the study significantly add-in to the existing bank of knowledge about population structure of T. multiceps. We recommend conducting more studies employing different genetic markers to better comprehend the epidemiology of the parasite.