Molecular phylogeny of Besnoitia and the genetic relationships among Besnoitia of cattle, wildebeest and goats

Knowledge on parasites of the genus Besnoitia is sparse, which are classifi ed in the subfamily Toxoplasmatinae of the phylum Apicomplexa. This arrange ment hypotheses that Besnoitia represents the sister group to species such as Toxoplasma gondii and Hammondia hammondi. In order to test this hypothes is, phylogenetic analyses of 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) from Besnoitia, Hammo ndia, Isospora, Frenkelia, Eimeria, Neospora, Sarcocystis and Toxoplasma we re performed. The 18S rDNA of Besnoitia besnoiti, Besnoitia jellisoni and E imeria alabamensis were amplified by PCR and sequenced, Phylogenetic analys es by parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods showed Besnoitia to be repro ducibly the sister group to a clade containing Hammondia, Neospora and Toxo plasma. Furthermore, Besnoitia of cattle, wildebeest and goats had identica l ITS1 rDNA sequences, which questions the use of the taxon Besnoitia capra e to describe the Besnoitia found in goats.