Morphological, ultrastructural, and phylogenetic analysis of Ascaridia columbae infecting domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica)

Ascaridia species are the most common nematodes infecting pigeons. The current study investigated specific identity of nematode parasites collected from domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica) in Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia. Out of 354 pigeons, 13.3 % were infected with nematode parasites. The morphological structure and genetic relationship of nematode worms were studied using conventional methods (Light and scanning electron microscopes) coupled with the newly introduced molecular method. Microscopical and ultrastructure observations showed that the present nematode worms belong to the genus Ascaridia and have all the characteristic features of Ascaridia columbae. Moreover, Random Amplifier morphometric (RAPD) PCR analysis revealed that the present A. columbae had a close identity of up to 98.3 % to Ascaridia columbae JX624729 for Cox-1 gene regions, and up to 98.3 % to Ascaridia nymphii LC057210, and Ascaridia galli EF180058 for ITS1-5.8s- ITS2 rDNA gene regions. Phylogenetic analysis supported the placement of this Ascaridia species within Ascaridiidae family with close relationships to other nematode species obtained from GenBank. Finally, our study recommends using molecular analysis in helminths identification as the main methodology for correct identification especially in closely related species.