Identification of Echinococcus granulosus Strains in Isolated Hydatid Cyst Specimens from Animals by PCR-RFLP Method in West Azerbaijan – Iran

Background: the aim of this study was dna extraction from protoscolecses of echinococcus granulosus and identification of these strains in west-azerbaijan province, north western iran. methods: thirty one livestock isolates from sheep and cattle were collected from abattoirs of the province. to investigate the genetic variation of the isolates, after dna extraction by glass beads-phenol chloroform method; pcr-rlfp analysis of rdna-its1 was performed using three different restriction enzymes of taq 1, rsa 1 and alu 1. result: amplified pcr products for all isolates were 1000bp band which is expected band in sheep strains (g1-g3 complex). the results of rflp analysis also were the same for all isolates. pcr-rflp patterns restriction enzymes were identical as follows, rsa1 bands under uv showed two bands approximately 655bp and 345bp. alu1 bands were as follows: two approximately 800bp and 200bp and taq1 did not cut any region and bands were approximately 1000 bp in all samples. conclusions: based on pcr-rflp patterns of its1 fragment produced with endonucleases enzyme digestion in animal isolates, it can be concluded that a single strain of e. granulosus (sheep strain or g1-g3 complex) is dominant genotype in this province.