Tanveer A. Sofi

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Diplozoon kashmirensis;D. aegyptensis and D. guptai Collected from Fishes of Kashmir Valley-India

The study reports the results of molecular characterization of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) of ribosomal DNA of 3 Monogenean species using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), nucleotide sequencing and construction of phylogenetic trees from different fish hosts of Kashmir. The present study shows that the size of the amplified product is 873bp long for D. kashmirensis, 1120bp long in D. aegyptensis and 687bp long in D. guptai revealing that there are intraspecific differences in their base pair lengths. Guanine and Cytocine (G+C) content of three Diplozoon species was found nearly constant for three species i.e., 47% (D. kashmirensis); 47% (D. aegyptensis) and 48% (D. guptai), this GC richness contributes to physical attributes of RNA structures, as there is correlation between GC content and optimal growth temperature. An important observation during the present study has been noticed that Schizothorax niger is infected by all the three species of Diplozoidae; D. kashmirensis; D. aegyptensis and D. guptai, but when all six fishes were collected simultaneously, parasitism by all the parasite species was never observed. Phylogenetic trees Maximum Parsimony (MP), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Neighbor Joining (NJ) showed that D. kashmirensis and D. aegyptensis share a common host Carassius carassius and S. niger.

Chromosomes of two species of Acanthocephalans collected from the fishes of Kashmir valley, India.

In the present study, karyotypes and chromosomes of two species of the families Pomphorhynchidae (Pomphorhynchus kashmirensis, Kaw 1941) and Neoechinorhynchidae (Neoechinorhynchus manasbalensis, kaw 1951) from intestinal tissues of Schizothorax and Cyprinus spps, were studied. Karyotypes of both the species is 2n=8 in which P. kashmirensis possess 4 submetacentric and 4 subtelocentric chromosome pairs whereas in case of N. manasbalensis first two pairs are metacentric, next two pairs are submetacentric and last 4 pairs are telocentric. The karyotype of N. manasbalensis seems to be more ancient, because its chromosomes are nearly telocentric. Such uniformity could be regarded as a plesiomorphic character of an ancestral karyotype.

New Record of Leidynema appendiculata (Leidy, 1850) Chitwood, 1932. (Oxyuroidea: Thelastomatidae) from the Cockroaches Blatta orientalis (Dictyopetra: Blattidae) from Kashmir

During the present study, for the first time Nematode parasites were from the colon region of the intestine of Blatta orientalis from Srinagar. On close examination, they were found to resemble to those of Leidynema appendiculate in all their morphological and biological features. Both male and female specimens were recovered but male specimens were lesser in comparison to females. Measurements and camera lucida drawings are also given.

Gregarine Parasite Belonging to the Family Diplocystidae Bhatia, 1938 Reported from the Cockroaches Blatta orientalis (Dictyopetra: Blattidae) from Kashmir

During the present study Diplocystis kasmirensis n. sp. (Sporozoa: Eugregarinida) were collected from Haemocoel including gut surface of Blatta orientalis Linnaeus (Dictyoptera; Blattidae) with description to their morphology, life cycle stages and taxonomy.

Predominance of gastrointestinal protozoan parasites in children: A brief review

Intestinal parasitic infections are among the major diseases of concern to public health throughout the world [1]. About 25% of world’s population suffers from one or more kinds of intestinal parasitic infections (helminthes/protozoa). Children because of their complex nutritional requirements and less developed immune systems are observed to be the principal sufferers of these parasitic infections [2]. Moreover, they have an extremely delicate physiology which can result in severe upsetting of their biochemical and physiological processes associated with these infections. Intestinal protozoan parasites can affect children in a variety of ways; they cause mal-absorption, reduced growth, increased risk for protein energy malnutrition, reduced psychomotor development and anemia. This report addresses Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Entamoeba as the main parasitic protozoa of concern among children worldwide.