Prevalence, risk factors and genotype distribution of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in soil in China

Cong, Wei; Zhang, Nian-Zhang; Hu, Rui-Si; Zou, Feng-Cai; Zou, Yang; Zhong, Wen-Yan; Wu, Jing-Jing; Fallaize, Christopher J.; Zhu, Xing-Quan; Elsheikha, Hany M.

Abstract

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. In the present study, we performed a cross-sectional survey to determine the occurrence and genotype distribution of T. gondii DNA in soil samples collected from different sources from six geographic regions in China. Between March 2015 and June 2017, 2100 soil samples were collected from schools, parks, farms and coastal beaches, and examined for T. gondii DNA using three PCR assays targeting 529-bp repeat element (RE) sequence, B1 gene and ITS-1 gene sequences. Also, we investigated whether geographic region, soil source and type, and sampling season can influence the prevalence of T. gondii DNA in the soil. Soil samples collected from farms and parks had the highest prevalence, whereas samples collected from school playgrounds and coastal beaches had the lowest prevalence. PCR assays targeting 529-bp RE and ITS-1 gene sequences were more sensitive than the B1 gene-based assay. Positive PCR products were genotyped using multi-locus PCR-RFLP, and ToxoDB #9 was the predominant genotype found in the contaminated soil samples. Multiple logistic regression identified factors correlated significantly with the presence of T. gondii DNA in the soil to be the source of the soil, including farms (odds ratio 3.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.52 to 6.29; p=0.002) and parks (2.59; 95% CI 1.28 to 5.27; p=0.009). These results show that Chinese soil hosts T. gondii of the most prevalent genotype in China (ToxoDB#9) and that the soil type influences infection patterns.

Citation

Cong, W., Zhang, N., Hu, R., Zou, F., Zou, Y., Zhong, W., …Elsheikha, H. M. (2020). Prevalence, risk factors and genotype distribution of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in soil in China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 189, Article 109999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109999

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 22, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Dec 5, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 6, 2020
• Journal: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
• Print ISSN: 0147-6513
• Electronic ISSN: 1090-2414
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 189
• Article Number: 109999
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109999
• Keywords: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Pollution; Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis; General Medicine
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3674637
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651319313302
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Prevalence, risk factors and genotype distribution of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in soil in China; Journal Title: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109999; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.