Phylogenetic and molecular analysis based on genes 16S-rRNA, OMPA and POMP to identify Chlamydia abortus infection occurrence at the milk samples of goats and sheep in west Azerbaijan of Iran

Fariba Taheri; Abdulghaffar Ownagh; Karim Mardani

doi:10.18502/ijm.v13i4.6972

Fariba Taheri Department of Microbiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azerbaijan, Iran
Abdulghaffar Ownagh Department of Microbiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azerbaijan, Iran
Karim Mardani Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, School of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azerbaijan, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v13i4.6972

Keywords: Chlamydia; Nested polymerase chain reaction; Helicase; Outer membrane protein A (OmpA); Polymorphic outer membrane protein (POMP)

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Enzootic abortion in sheep and goats, also called ovine enzootic abortion (OEA) or enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE), is caused by Chlamydia abortus. The disease has a major economic impact as it represents the most important cause of lamb loss in sheep in parts of Europe, North America and Africa. This serious and potentially life-threat- ening zoonosis can also affect pregnant women after contact with lambing ewes, leading to severe febrile illness in pregnancy and loss of the foetus.

Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted to the Phylogenetic and Molecular Analysis based on Genes 16S-rRNA, OmpA and POMP of C. abortus in milk samples collected from sheep and goats in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. During 2018, a total number of 360 milk samples were collected from sheep (n = 180) and goats (n = 180) of different regions of the province. All milk samples were subjected to DNA extraction and examined by PCR.

Results: Among 360 milk samples collected from sheep and goats, 31 (8.611%; 95% CI=6.13-11.96) were positive for Chlamydia spp. The helicase, 16S-rRNA and ompA genes were examined and resulted in 8, 31, 31 of positive samples re- spectively. The accession numbers have been deposited in GenBank (NCBI) (MT367602 and MT367603).

Conclusion: Phylogenetic analysis based on the gene of helicase showed that most of the isolates shared similarity > 99.97%.