Molecular identification of Cryptosporidium andersoni in Shahriar calves

Cryptosporidium andersoni is a pathogenic coccidia of cattle and sheep. In the present study، 940 fecal samples were investigated from calves aged from 2 months to 1 year old of Shahriar city. The smears of the samples were stained with modified Ziehl Neelsen technique. For molecular study، DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform from stool positive samples، then 18s rRNA gene of Cryptosporidium was amplified by Nested PCR method. The resulted band was cut with two restriction enzymes (Vsp1 and Ssp1). Finally the resulting amplicon of Nested PCR was sequenced. The results indicated that، 23 cases were diagnosed to be positive with staining technique. All PCR-RFLP patterns of 18S rRNA gene of calve samples showed similar electrophoretic mobility on agarose gel and identified as Cryptosporidium andersoni. The result was also confirmed by sequencing analysis.