Phylogenetic analysis of Cryptosporidium isolates from captive reptiles using 18S rDNA sequence data and random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis.

Sequence alignment of a polymerase chain reaction-amplified 713-base pair region of the Cryptosporidium 18S rDNA gene was carried out on 15 captive reptile isolates from different geographic locations and compared to both Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium muris isolates. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was also performed on a smaller number of these samples. The data generated by both techniques were significantly correlated (P < 0.002), providing additional evidence to support the clonal population structure hypothesis for Cryptosporidium. Phylogenetic analysis of both 18S sequence information and RAPD analysis grouped the majority of reptile isolates together into 1 main group attributed to Cryptosporidium serpentis, which was genetically distinct but closely related to C. muris. A second genotype exhibited by 1 reptile isolate (S6) appeared to be intermediate between C. serpentis and C. muris but grouped most closely with C. muris, as it exhibited 99.15% similarity with C. muris and only 97.13% similarity with C. serpentis. The third genotype identified in 2 reptile isolates was a previously characterized 'mouse' genotype that grouped closely with bovine and human C. parvum isolates.