Navigating Blastocystis research – challenges in the next-generation sequencing era
Blastocystis research has grown rapidly with molecular tools, especially next-generation sequencing, increasing subtype discovery but raising methodological and taxonomic challenges. We assess subtype designation criteria, caution against lowering divergence thresholds without biological evidence, and propose minimum standards requiring near full-length small subunit ribosomal RNA data and replication to ensure nomenclatural stability and epidemiological comparability.
Authors
- Christen Rune Stensvold (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1417-7048)
- Supaluk Popruk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4218-9633)
- Pauline D. Scanlan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6733-9653)
- Eleni Gentekaki
Institutions
- Statens Serum Institut (DK)
- University of Nicosia (CY)
- University College Cork (IE)
- Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (TH)
- APC Microbiome Institute (IE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Trends in Parasitology
- Published
- 2026-04-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.006
- Primary Topic
- Parasitic Infections and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Cooperation in Science and Technology