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Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite which is able to infect almost all warm-blooded animals. There is no information about the prevalence and genetic characterization of T. gondii in badgers ( Melogale moschata ) in China. Here, a total of 367 badgers were captured from different cities in Jiangxi province, Southern China. Genomic DNA was extracted from brain tissues of each badgers, and 57 (15.45%) of them were positive for T. gondii by semi-nested PCR of the B1 gene. The positive DNA samples were typed at 11 genetic markers, including 10 nuclear loci (SAG1, 5′-SAG2 and 3′-SAG2, alternative SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1) and an apicoplast locus (Apico), with multilocus polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technology. Among them, 4 were completely typed at all loci, and 2 was genotyped for 9 loci, showing that they belong to ToxoDB#9. This is the first report of prevalence and genetic characterization of T. gondii isolates from badgers in China, which contributes to broader understanding of population structure of T. gondii in China. It is important for the prevention and control of T. gondii infection in wild animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide prevalent pathogen that infects most of the warm-blood vertebrates. To investigate the regulation network of splenic miRNAs altered by acute infection with T. gondii , we herein investigated the changes of miRNA profile in mouse spleen via next generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. A total of 379 miRNAs was identified, 131 miRNAs of them were differentially expressed (including 97 upregulated and 34 downregulated miRNAs). 48 differentially expressed miRNAs had validated targets in the miRWalk2.0 database. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that the validated targets of differently expressed miRNAs were significantly enriched in gene transcription regulation. It suggested that T. gondii can modulate host gene expression through targeting to trans-regulation factors. The genes involved in apoptosis or anti-apoptosis were both targeted by differentially expressed miRNAs. The change of power balance between the miRNAs targeting host apoptosis genes and those regulating host anti-apoptosis genes contributes to the fate of host apoptosis process. Twelve pathways were significantly enriched in KEGG analysis with most of them being cancer related, including pathways in cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, axon guidance, MAPK signaling pathway, focal adhesion, chronic myeloid leukemia, renal cell carcinoma, prostate cancer, glioma, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, and Wnt signaling pathway. Our study showed a changed miRNA regulation network in mouse spleen infected by T. gondii . These findings will be helpful for better understanding of miRNA regulation network in host– T. gondii interaction, revealing the relationship among T. gondii infection, gene regulation, apoptosis and cancer process alterations in infected spleen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]