The rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis is globally known to be the cause of oeosinophilic meningitis in humans. Another congener, Angiostrongylus malaysiensis, is closely related to A. cantonensis and has been described as a potential human pathogenic parasite. These 2 worms are similar in terms of life cycle, host range and morphological and genetic information. However, there are limited studies about their genetic diversity based on the 66-kDa protein-encoding gene. The objective of this study was to explore the 66-kDa protein sequence variation of A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis collected from Thailand. Two adult and 53 third-stage larval specimens of Angiostrongylus from 4 geographic locations in Thailand were molecularly identified using the 66-kDa protein gene. The phylogenetic trees (Bayesian inference tree and maximum-likelihood tree) showed that Angiostrongylus formed a monophyletic clade with a clear separation between A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis. The genetic distance between A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis varies from 0.82 to 2.86%, with a total of 16 variable sites. The analysis of genetic diversity revealed 1 and 5 new haplotypes of A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis, respectively, and showed genetic differences between the populations of A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis. The haplotype networks of A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis populations in Thailand are similar to those of populations in some countries, indicating the range expansion of genomic origin between populations in different areas. In conclusion, the 66-kDa protein gene was a good genetic marker for studying genetic diversity and discriminating between A. cantonensis and A. malaysiensis.
Keywords: 66-kDa protein; Angiostrongylus; genetic diversity; haplotype; phylogeny.