Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of Dirofilaria immitis of China based on COI and 12S rDNA genes.

In this paper, mtDNA gene cytochrome coxidase subunit I (COI) and small subunit ribosomal RNA (12S rDNA) were used to examine the phylogenetic position of Dirofilaria immitis from dogs and red pandas in the evolutionary tree of filarial. Different approaches, including minimal evolution (ME) and maximum parsimony (MP) from distance matrix and character state, were used to evaluate the evolutional relation between Dirofilaria spp. and other species included in the family Onchocercidae. Intra-specific variation was found in COI but not in 12S rDNA. D. immitis and D. repens appear to be sister species.