Journal of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

en Morphologic, Morphometric and Molecular Comparison of Two Sister Species of Rodents as Potential Reservoir Hosts of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the Southwest of Iran Infectious diseases and public health Infectious diseases and public health Original article Original article Introduction: Rodents are reservoir hosts of various infectious diseases. Many species and subspecies of genus Rattus play a significant role as potential reservoir hosts of different emerging and re-emerging diseases, including leishmaniasis. Methods: Rodents were captured using live wooden traps from different localities of Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran. To precise identification of two sister species of rats, including Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus, morphological, molecular, and biosystematics characters were examined using amplification of mitochondrial Cytochrome b (Cytb) gene fragment. Results: Out of 119 captured rodents, 44 were R. rattus, 12 were R. norvegicus, and 63 belonged to other species (Tatera indica, Nesokia indica, Mus musculus). Partial Cyt b gene (≤624 bp) was amplified to characterize R. rattus and R. norvegicus, accurately. Three haplotypes of R. rattus (six samples) and a unique haplotype of R. norvegicus (three samples) were identified with some nucleotide variations. Conclusion: Mitochondrial results confirmed morphological disparity between the two Rattus species in Khuzestan Province. Therefore, we recommend applying an integrative approach to identify host reservoirs for infectious diseases, especially those suspected as reservoirs of cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Morphology, Cytochrome b, Rattus rattus, Rattus norvegicus. 79 84 http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-202-4&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyedeh Maryam Ghafari ghaffarikm@gmail.com 0000-0002-2369-5592 No Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Parasitology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Vahoora Ebadatgar molecularrsystematics@gmail.com 0000-0001-9770-7827 No Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Parasitology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Somayeh Mohammadi molecularrsystematics@gmail.com 0000-0001-9040-6968 No Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Parasitology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Sahar Ebrahimi molecularrsystematics 0000-0002-0726-1284 No Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Parasitology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Ali Bordbar molecularrsystematics 0000-0002-5984-7287 No Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Parasitology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Parviz Parvizi parpparvizi@yahoo.com 0000000223695592 Yes Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Department of Parasitology , Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran