Molecular detection and COX1-based phylogenetic placement of Dipylidium caninum caninum in stray dogs from Iğdır Province, eastern Türkiye.

Abstract

Dipylidium caninum is a globally distributed zoonotic cestode commonly found in dogs and cats. Recent molecular studies have shown that the D. caninum complex includes largely host-associated canine and feline lineages, but molecular data from many endemic regions remain limited. In Türkiye, most prior reports have relied on conventional parasitological methods, and COX1-based data from dogs remain scarce. In this study, D. caninum from dogs in Iğdır Province, eastern Türkiye, was characterized using a partial mitochondrial COX1 marker. Of 100 dog fecal samples examined, 8 were positive, yielding a molecular prevalence of 8 %. All positive samples shared the same COX1 haplotype, which was deposited in GenBank under accession number PZ299077.1. BLASTn analysis showed that D. caninum GenBank entries with identity values above 90 % were primarily dog-derived, whereas cat-associated sequences generally showed lower identity values. In the phylogenetic analysis, the Iğdır sequence was placed within the broader D. caninum assemblage. It showed affinity with dog-derived sequences from Türkiye, Ghana, the USA, Croatia and China, as well as bush dog-derived sequences from Colombia. However, dog- and cat-associated lineages were not completely separated in the analyzed dataset, and the placement was interpreted as molecular affinity rather than a definitive genotype-level assignment. This study provides one of the first COX1-based molecular records of D. caninum from dogs in Iğdır Province and adds new mitochondrial data from an underrepresented region. Broader sampling and the inclusion of additional mitochondrial and nuclear markers will be important for clarifying the genetic diversity, transmission dynamics and zoonotic relevance of D. caninum in Türkiye.