Evaluation of the specificity of five oligoprobes for identification of cyathostomin species from horses

Here, we report evaluation of five oligoprobes designed from intergenic spa cer (IGS) region sequences for identification of cyathostomin species. Olig oprobes were designed for identification of Cylicocyclus ashworthi, Cylicoc yclus nassatus, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, Cylicostephanus goldi and a fifth probe designed to identify all members of this tribe. PCR amplificati on of IGS DNA from 16 cyathostomin species allowed sequence comparison and identification of four putative species-specific probes. Southern blotting of amplified products from 16 species showed that all probes were species-s pecific. The fifth probe recognised all 16 cyathostomin species but did not bind to members of the genus Strongylus. Furthermore, these probes were us ed to identify individual infective L3, eggs and L4 indicating that they wi ll be invaluable to furthering the study of the epidemiology and pathogenes is of these important equine nematodes. (C) 2001 Australian Society for Par asitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.