Molecular analyses reveal two geographic and genetic lineages for tapeworms, Taenia solium and Taenia saginata, from Ecuador using mitochondrial DNA

Tapeworms Taenia solium and Taenia saginata are the causative agents of taeniasis/cysticercosis. These are diseases with high medical and veterinary importance due to their impact on public health and rural economy in tropical countries. The re-emergence of T. solium as a result of human migration, the economic burden affecting livestock industry, and the large variability of symptoms in several human cysticercosis, encourage studies on genetic diversity, and the identification of these parasites with molecular phylogenetic tools. Samples collected from the Ecuadorian provinces: Loja, Guayas, Manabí, Tungurahua (South), and Imbabura, Pichincha (North) from 2000 to 2012 were performed under Maximum Parsimony analyses and haplotype networks using partial sequences of mitochondrial DNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and NADH subunit I (NDI), from Genbank and own sequences of Taenia solium and Taenia saginata from Ecuador. Both species have shown reciprocal monophyly, which confirms its molecular taxonomic identity. The COI and NDI genes results suggest phylogenetic structure for both parasite species from south and north of Ecuador. In T. solium, both genes gene revealed greater geographic structure, whereas in T. saginata, the variability for both genes was low. In conclusion, COI haplotype networks of T. solium suggest two geographical events in the introduction of this species in Ecuador (African and Asian lineages) and occurring sympatric, probably through the most common routes of maritime trade between the XV-XIX centuries. Moreover, the evidence of two NDI geographical lineages in T. solium from the north (province of Imbabura) and the south (province of Loja) of Ecuador derivate from a common Indian ancestor open new approaches for studies on genetic populations and eco-epidemiology.