First molecular and phylogenetic identification of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep liver intended for human consumption in Northern Tunisia

First molecular and phylogenetic identification of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep liver intended for human consumption in Northern Tunisia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article First molecular and phylogenetic identification of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep liver intended for human consumption in Northern Tunisia Yosra Amdouni, Ines Hammami, Nadia Farhat, Mourad Rekik, Mohamed Gharbi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3958963/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Aug, 2024 Read the published version in Acta Parasitologica → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The aim of this study was to estimate the molecular infection prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep liver tissues destined for human consumption. A total number of 224 liver tissues were collected from slaughtered sheep in Sejnane slaughterhouse (Northwest Tunisia). PCR was used to detect T. gondii DNA in liver tissues followed by phylogenetic analysis of amplicons. The phylogenetic tree was then constructed to compare the partial sequences of the ITS1 gene with GenBank sequences. The overall molecular prevalence of T. gondii in sheep livers was 25% (56/224). The highest molecular prevalence of T. gondii was recorded in sheep aged of less than one year old (27.3%; 52/190). Infection prevalence was significantly higher in Noire de Thibar breed (33%; 17/51) compared to other breeds (p = 0.023). There were no differences depicted according to sheep’s gender. The T. gondii sequences obtained in the present study (GenBank accession numbers: OR509829 and OR509830) were 98.40-100% homologous to T. gondii sequences published in the GenBank. These results highlight a high level of T. gondii contamination of tissues destined for human consumption. Further studies are needed to improve our knowledge on different genotypes of T. gondii that infect Tunisian sheep population. Toxoplasma gondii PCR Phylogenetic analysis Sheep Liver Northern Tunisia Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Full Text Additional Declarations Tables 1 and 2 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files TablesYosra.pdf Table 1: Toxoplasma gondii and Universal primers and PCR conditions Table 2: Association between Toxoplasma gondii molecular infection prevalence and different parameters based on PCR DNA amplification. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Aug, 2024 Read the published version in Acta Parasitologica → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revisions 18 Jun, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 31 Mar, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 27 Feb, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 20 Feb, 2024 First submitted to journal 14 Feb, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3958963","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":275487513,"identity":"f5901342-5def-4c59-9f4b-71a665b3b868","order_by":0,"name":"Yosra Amdouni","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABA0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACAyCWgPPkQMSBB6RoMQZrSSCsBQESG0AkPi380w5vfMy7wyKxn//sww8MNYfT54cdfgi0xU5OtwG7FonbacXGvGckEmfOSDeWYDh2OHfj7TQDoJZkY7MDOKy5nWMmzdsmkbjhBhvQR2xALbMTQFoOJG7DoUUeruX8MeYfDP8OpxvOTv+AV4sBXMuBNDYJxrbDCfLSOfhtMQT6xXBum4TxzBlpbBaJfemGG6RzCg4kGOD2i9zt5I0P3rbVyfbzH2O+8eGbtbz87PTNHz5U2Mnh9D4UODaAyASGZgYDsEoDfIohwB5K1zHINxBWPQpGwSgYBSMLAADcvmGbrZLWmQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7831-6211","institution":"Ecole Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire Sidi Thabet","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yosra","middleName":"","lastName":"Amdouni","suffix":""},{"id":275487514,"identity":"db00e7cf-5d4a-4278-9790-1c4d091aa18b","order_by":1,"name":"Ines Hammami","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ecole Nationale de Medecine Veterinaire de Sidi Thabet","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ines","middleName":"","lastName":"Hammami","suffix":""},{"id":275487515,"identity":"72044f8b-411b-4d7a-a0b0-4cedd2d7f904","order_by":2,"name":"Nadia Farhat","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie Laboratoire des Productions Animales et Fourragères: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie Laboratoire des Productions Animales et Fourrageres","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nadia","middleName":"","lastName":"Farhat","suffix":""},{"id":275487516,"identity":"2c9adcfb-ddad-4050-ad1c-867d8ecc3941","order_by":3,"name":"Mourad Rekik","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mourad","middleName":"","lastName":"Rekik","suffix":""},{"id":275487517,"identity":"e82e1db5-8e1a-4b5f-a1a8-454a15c59e2b","order_by":4,"name":"Mohamed Gharbi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ecole Nationale de Medecine Veterinaire de Sidi Thabet","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohamed","middleName":"","lastName":"Gharbi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-02-15 14:50:06","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3958963/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3958963/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-024-00894-z","type":"published","date":"2024-08-21T15:57:06+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":51843430,"identity":"62c9711f-de84-4e4b-a616-b576c9cee2e2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-01 06:14:16","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":41185,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMap of Tunisia showing the study area of Toxoplasma gondii infection in sheep\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3958963/v1/55d902c3ba5c8e95f827f6ab.jpg"},{"id":51843429,"identity":"b5f9fbda-2418-4b3e-865a-3140edce0246","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-01 06:14:16","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":57742,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePartial sequence ITS1 gene phylogenetic tree of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from sheep liver (GenBank accession number: OR509829 and OR509830) and the main Toxoplasma gondii deposited in GenBank. Amplicons described in this study are indicated with a black square, and numbers at the branches refer to bootstrap (1000 replications)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3958963/v1/a5acbc875d8fd6168e1dfe4d.jpg"},{"id":63300520,"identity":"e411a169-888a-41b3-b753-6ecab596ea84","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-26 16:14:50","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":378806,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptYosra.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3958963/v1_covered_619fe1aa-05ad-481a-b7f2-f7b16d1f94b0.pdf"},{"id":51843431,"identity":"f0aa227d-4402-4e54-9c2c-519d566167aa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-01 06:14:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":136969,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTable 1: Toxoplasma gondii and Universal primers and PCR conditions\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 2: Association between Toxoplasma gondii molecular infection prevalence and different parameters based on PCR DNA amplification.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"TablesYosra.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3958963/v1/12db5faa84a7989366f3ab11.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eTables 1 and 2 are available in the Supplementary Files section.\u003c/p\u003e","formattedTitle":"First molecular and phylogenetic identification of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep liver intended for human consumption in Northern Tunisia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"acta-parasitologica","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"actp","sideBox":"Learn more about [Acta Parasitologica](http://link.springer.com/journal/11686)","snPcode":"11686","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/11686/3","title":"Acta Parasitologica","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Toxoplasma gondii, PCR, Phylogenetic analysis, Sheep, Liver, Northern Tunisia","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3958963/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3958963/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe aim of this study was to estimate the molecular infection prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep liver tissues destined for human consumption. A total number of 224 liver tissues were collected from slaughtered sheep in Sejnane slaughterhouse (Northwest Tunisia). PCR was used to detect T. gondii DNA in liver tissues followed by phylogenetic analysis of amplicons. The phylogenetic tree was then constructed to compare the partial sequences of the ITS1 gene with GenBank sequences.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe overall molecular prevalence of T. gondii in sheep livers was 25% (56/224). The highest molecular prevalence of T. gondii was recorded in sheep aged of less than one year old (27.3%; 52/190). Infection prevalence was significantly higher in Noire de Thibar breed (33%; 17/51) compared to other breeds (p = 0.023). There were no differences depicted according to sheep’s gender. The T. gondii sequences obtained in the present study (GenBank accession numbers: OR509829 and OR509830) were 98.40-100% homologous to T. gondii sequences published in the GenBank. 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