Please cite this article in press as: Rico-Torres, C.P., et al., First isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from cats of Colima, Mexico: Tissue distribution and genetic characterization. Vet. Parasitol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.02.004 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model VETPAR-7528; No. of Pages 4 Veterinary Parasitology xxx (2015) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Veterinary Parasitology jo u r nal homep age: www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar Short Communication First isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from cats of Colima, Mexico: Tissue distribution and genetic characterization Claudia Patricia Rico-Torres a , Alejandra Del Viento-Camacho b , Heriberto Caballero-Ortega a , Alejandro Besné-Mérida a , Héctor Luna-Pastén a , Dolores Correa a , José Manuel Palma-García b,∗ a Laboratorio de Inmunología Experimental, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaría de Salud, México, D.F., CP 04530, Mexico b Centro Universitario de Investigación y Desarrollo Agropecuario, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad de Colima, Av. Gonzalo de Sandoval # 444, Colima, CP 28045 AP 22, Mexico a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 20 August 2014 Received in revised form 4 February 2015 Accepted 8 February 2015 Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii Cats Molecular characterization Isolation Genotype Mexico a b s t r a c t Toxoplasma gondii is among the commonest zoonotic infectious agents worldwide. It infects many warm-blooded animals, including felines, the definitive hosts. This parasite is now classified in 15 haplogroups spread out around the world. Few reports reveal a predomi- nance of genotypes I and III in Mexico, although recombinant and atypical variants have also been found in humans and animals. The aim of this study was to detect, isolate and genotype T. gondii from cats of Colima Mexico, and to analyze tissue distribution of the par- asite. IgG specific antibodies were investigated in 48 serum samples from unwanted and stray cats by indirect ELISA. Isolation in mice and molecular characterization by PCR-RFLP and sequencing were attempted using pools of brain, heart, liver, lung, spleen and brachio- cephalic muscle samples of seropositive cats. Fourteen animals (29.2%) were seropositive, the frequency ranged between 27.3 and 40% among the different localities. Ten seroposi- tive animals were euthanized, eight of them were positive for the B1 gene by conventional PCR. More frequently infected tissues were the brachiocephalic muscle (75.0%) the brain (63.0%) and the spleen (63.0%). Genotype III was determined for the SAG3 locus of the par- asite infecting an unwanted cat. Tachyzoites were isolated from the peritoneal cavity of two mice inoculated with the tissue pool of one kitten. Type I alleles were found in SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c29-2 and PK1 loci, while c22-8 was type II, and L358 and Apico were type III. This genotype corresponds to ToxoDB genotype #28. This is the first T. gondii isolate genetically characterized in Colima, Mexico and is different to other isolations of the country. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular para- site that infects a broad range of warm-blooded animals. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 312 316 10 00x40011; fax: +52 312 312 75 81. E-mail address: palma@ucol.mx (J.M. Palma-García). Felines play a critical role in the epidemiology of this para- sitosis, because they release oocysts with their feces, which survive several months in the environment, especially in warm and humid zones (Dubey, 2004). Currently T. gondii is classified into 15 haplogroups with a world-wide distribution (Su et al., 2012). In Mexico a predominance of types I and III has been supported from studies performed in several species, including humans, although atypical variants have also been found (Dubey http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.02.004 0304-4017/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.