Aspiculuris tetraptera a pinworm of mice, is an important parasite in institutions with mice colonies for both research and teaching purposes. Infection with this parasite has impact on biomedical research. This is likely due to the availability of the parasite's eggs in the environment, therefore can easily be transmitted and infection is generally asymptomatic. No information regarding the prevalence, morphology or phylogeny is available on A. tetraptera from Saudi Arabia. A group of 50 laboratory mice were investigated for the presence of A. tetraptera. Worms were described morphologically and molecular characterization was attempted using 18S rRNA and Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I genes. The prevalence of A. tetraptera infestation in the laboratory mice examined was found to be 46%. Morphological description indicated that the worms belong to A. tetraptera and this was confirmed by molecular characterization. Both regions studied has shown that the worm under investigation grouped with A. tetraptera. 18S rDNA sequences obtained in the present study showed high identity with sequences from A. tetraptera while COI sequences showed intraspecific variation resulted into two haplotypes from the isolates in the present study. A. tetraptera was recorded for the first time from Saudi Arabia. Molecular characterization has shown, based on the COI sequences, that the Saudi isolates of A. tetraptera are distinct.

中文翻译：

---

沙特阿拉伯小家鼠（啮齿类动物：鼠科）的四足虫（线虫：杂种线虫）的形态和分子特征。

灰pin（Aspiculuristetraptera）是小鼠的pin虫，在具有小鼠菌落的机构中，无论是出于研究还是教学目的，都是重要的寄生虫。感染这种寄生虫会对生物医学研究产生影响。这很可能是由于环境中寄生虫卵的可利用性，因此很容易传播，感染通常是无症状的。没有关于沙特阿拉伯四足动物的流行，形态或系统发育的信息。研究了一组50只实验小鼠中四足曲霉的存在。对蠕虫进行了形态学描述，并尝试使用18S rRNA和细胞色素氧化酶亚基I基因进行分子表征。发现在所检查的实验室小鼠中四肢曲霉侵染的患病率为46％。形态学描述表明，该蠕虫属于四足曲霉，这已通过分子鉴定得到证实。研究的两个区域均表明，所研究的蠕虫与四肢拟南芥分组。在本研究中获得的18S rDNA序列与四足拟南芥的序列具有高度同一性，而COI序列显示种内变异导致从本研究中的分离株产生两个单倍型。首次从沙特阿拉伯记录了四足拟南芥。基于COI序列的分子表征已显示出四翅菌的沙特分离株是不同的。在本研究中获得的18S rDNA序列与四足拟南芥的序列具有高度同一性，而COI序列显示种内变异导致从本研究中的分离株产生两个单倍型。首次从沙特阿拉伯记录了四足拟南芥。基于COI序列的分子表征已显示出四翅菌的沙特分离株是不同的。在本研究中获得的18S rDNA序列与四足拟南芥的序列具有高度同一性，而COI序列显示种内变异导致从本研究中的分离株产生两个单倍型。首次从沙特阿拉伯记录了四足拟南芥。基于COI序列的分子表征已显示出四翅菌的沙特分离株是不同的。