Host-adapted Cryptosporidium and Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotypes in straw-colored fruit bats in Nigeria

Li, Na; Ayinmode, Adekunle B.; Zhang, Hongwei; Feng, Yaoyu; Xiao, Lihua

Genetic diversity exists in each of the three groups of pathogens. Thus far, there are near 40 named Cryptosporidium species and as many unnamed species know as genotypes, each with some degree of host specificity . Similarly, there are at least eight genotypes of G. duodenalis known as assemblages A to H, which are likely cryptic species with different host ranges (Feng and Xiao, 2011) . There are also over 250 E. bieneusi genotypes, forming at least 11 genotype groups with different host preferences (Santin et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2018; Zhong et al., 2017) . Only some of the species or genotypes are major human pathogens, such as C. parvum and C. hominis among Cryptosporidium spp., assemblages A and B in G. duodenalis, and Group 1 genotypes in E. bieneusi Matos et al., 2012; . Molecular diagnostic tools are needed to differentiate the human-infective species and genotypes from animal-specific ones (Ghosh and Weiss, 2009; Xiao and Feng, 2017) . As different humanpathogenic species and genotypes have distinct host range, the use of molecular diagnostic tools in epidemiologic investigations has significantly improved our understanding of the transmission of these pathogens in both industrialized and developing countries (Matos et al., 2012; Xiao and Feng, 2017) .