{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T21:39:46Z","timestamp":1780090786816,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,4]],"date-time":"2021-05-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1620086400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008982","name":"Qatar National Research Fund","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NPRP1556-3-313"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NPRP1556-3-313"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008982","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Giardia duodenalis<\/jats:italic> is a common human intestinal parasite worldwide, and the causative agent of diarrhea, with the severity of disease ranging from asymptomatic to intense and debilitating infection. <jats:italic>G. duodenalis<\/jats:italic> is known to consist of eight genetically distinct assemblages, named from A to H. No data available on the genotypes and genetic diversity of <jats:italic>G. duodenalis<\/jats:italic> circulating in Qatar.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We genotyped 54 human <jats:italic>Giardia<\/jats:italic> isolates, collected from asymptomatic immigrants in Qatar, using a multilocus genotyping (MLGs) tool. We also investigated relationships between the subjects\u2019 genotypes and their demographic data.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Genomic DNA from 54 isolates were tested by PCR and sequence analysis at three loci: <jats:italic>glutamate dehydrogenase<\/jats:italic> (<jats:italic>gdh<\/jats:italic>), <jats:italic>\u03b2-giardin<\/jats:italic> (<jats:italic>bg<\/jats:italic>) and <jats:italic>triose phosphate<\/jats:italic> (<jats:italic>tpi<\/jats:italic>)). Assemblage A was identified in nine (16.67%), assemblage B in thirty (55.55%), and a mixture of assemblages A+B in fifteen (27.78%) isolates. All assemblage A isolates, genotyped in different loci, were assigned to sub-assemblage AII, and six of them had MLGs AII-1 while one new MLG was identified in two isolates. Sequences of assemblage B isolates have high level of genetic diversity and high presence of heterogeneous peaks, especially within the <jats:italic>gdh<\/jats:italic> gene. No significant associations between genotypes and the immigrants\u2019 demographic data were found due to the extensive number of new variants.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>MLGs was used herein to genotype 54 immigrant <jats:italic>Giardia<\/jats:italic> isolates. The high level of genetic variability found in our isolates hampered MLGs determination, more investigations are now required to consolidate our findings, and to enable a comprehensive understanding of the diversity within <jats:italic>G. duodenalis<\/jats:italic> assemblage B isolates.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2021.652946","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,4]],"date-time":"2021-05-04T06:52:11Z","timestamp":1620111131000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Genetic Diversity and Prevalence of Giardia duodenalis in Qatar"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Marwa","family":"Chourabi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sonia","family":"Boughattas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Atiyeh M.","family":"Abdallah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmed","family":"Ismail","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jerzy M.","family":"Behnke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hesham M.","family":"Al-Mekhlafi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marawan","family":"Abu-Madi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-016-1728-3","article-title":"A Decade of Intestinal Protozoan Epidemiology Among Settled Immigrants in Qatar","volume":"16","author":"Abu-Madi","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMC Infect. 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