Parasitic nematodes of the genus Syphacia Seurat, 1916 infecting Cricetidae in the British Isles: the enigmatic status of Syphacia nigeriana

Oxyurid nematodes (Syphacia spp) from bank (Myodes glareolus) and field/common (Microtus spp.) voles, from disparate geographical sites in the British Isles, were examined morphologically and genetically. The genetic signatures of 118 new isolates are provided, based primarily on the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region and for representative isolates also on the small subunit 18S rDNA region and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene locus. Genetic data on worms recovered from Microtus spp. from the European mainland and from other rodent genera from the Palaearctic, North America and West Africa are included in our analysis, to clarify the species status of Syphacia in voles from the British Isles. Herein, we test historical hypotheses indicating that S. nigeriana is a generalist species capable of infecting a range of different rodent genera. Our results establish that S. nigeriana is a parasite of both bank and field voles in the British Isles. A genotype that was identical to that recovered from British voles was also recorded from Hubert’s multimammate mouse (Mastomys huberti) from Senegal, but Mastomys spp. from West Africa were additionally parasitized by a related although genetically distinct Syphacia species. We found no evidence for S. petrusewiczi in voles from the British Isles but isolates of this species from Russia and North America were genetically distinct and formed their own separate deep branch in maximum likelihood molecular phylogenetic trees.