2011 Volume 73 Issue 10 Pages 1371-1373
In the present study, we tried to detect protozoan blood parasites from the liver or blood of 141 Japanese sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Iwate Prefecture of Japan by polymerase chain reaction. Approximately 500-bp amplicons were obtained in 76 (53.9%) of 141 samples by amplification for V4 hyper-variable regions of the 18S rRNA gene, and the amplicons were considered to be DNA of Theileria species. The complete nucleotide sequences (1701-bp) of the 18S rRNA gene were determined in 25 samples and were divided into 8 genotypes that were phylogenetically separated into two distinct lineages showing a monophyletic relation. The two lineages of Theileria were detected in different rates (12 and 88%) from sika deer in Iwate Prefecture.