Sequence and Phylogenetic Analysis of rDNA ITS of Three Eimeria Species in Rabbit

In order to study whether the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) sequence could be used as a molecular marker for the species identification of rabbit coccidian, the rDNA ITS of Eimeria intestinalis, Eimeria flavescens and Eimeria magna were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and were cloned into pGEM-T Easy vector subsequently. The positive recombinant plasmids were identified by PCR and then sequenced. By sequence comparison and comparative analysis with the relative sequences of rabbit Eimeria spp. available in GenBank, the results showed that the lengths of Eimeria intestinalis, Eimeria flavescens and Eimeria magna were 1065, 1009 and 1047 bp, respectively, and the sequence homologies with the same species sequences were 99.2%, 99.0% and 94.5%, respectively, while were 55.3% to 82.1% compared with corresponding sequences of other different species sequences. The phylogenetic analysis using software Mega 5.0 showed that all rabbit coccidia clustered together in a clade, which was divided into two sister lineages, corresponding to the presence or absence of oocyst residuum. The result demonstrated ITS could be used as a molecular marker for the species identification of rabbit coccidia.