Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Molecular characterization of Prototheca strains isolated from Italian dairy herds

2010; Elsevier BV; Volume: 93; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3168/jds.2010-3178

1529-9066

Matteo Ricchi, Marta Goretti, Eva Branda, G. Cammi, Chiara Garbarino, Benedetta Turchetti, P. Moroni, N. Arrigoni, Pietro Buzzini,

Biopolymer Synthesis and Applications

One hundred sixty-one Prototheca spp. strains isolated from composite milk and barn-surrounding environmental samples (bedding, feces, drinking, or washing water, surface swabs) of 24 Italian dairy herds were characterized by genotype-specific PCR analysis. Overall, 97.2% of strains isolated from composite milk samples were characterized as Prototheca zopfii genotype 2, confirming its role as the main mastitis pathogen, whereas Prototheca blaschkeae was only sporadically isolated (2.8%). Regarding environmental sampling, 84.9% of isolates belonged to P. zopfii genotype 2, 13.2% to P. blaschkeae, and 1.9% to P. zopfii genotype 1. The data herein contradict previous hypotheses about the supposed exclusive role of P. zopfii genotype 2 as the causative agent of protothecal mastitis and, on the contrary, confirm the hypothesis that such pathology could be caused by P. blaschkeae in a few instances.