doi:10.1369/jhc.5C6656.2005
Volume 53 (8): 917-927, 2005 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc.
Development of Species-specific rDNA Probes for Giardia by Multiple Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization Combined with Immunocytochemical Identification of Cyst Wall Antigens
Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Developmental Biology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota (SLE); Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts (EJ); Hyperion Research Ltd, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada (PW); and Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio (HvK) Correspondence to: Dr. Stanley L. Erlandsen, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, 6-160 Jackson Hall, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455. E-mail: erlan001{at}umn.edu
In this study, we describe the development of fluorescent oligonucleotide probes to variable regions in the small subunit of 16S rRNA in three distinct Giardia species. Sense and antisense probes (1722 mer) to variable regions 1, 3, and 8 were labeled with digoxygenin or selected fluorochomes (FluorX, Cy3, or Cy5). Optimal results were obtained with fluorochome-labeled oligonucleotides for detection of rRNA in Giardia cysts. Specificity of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was shown using RNase digestion and high stringency to diminish the hybridization signal, and oligonucleotide probes for rRNA in Giardia lamblia, Giardia muris, and Giardia ardeae were shown to specifically stain rRNA only within cysts or trophozoites of those species. The fluorescent oligonucleotide specific for rRNA in human isolates of Giardia was positive for ten different strains. A method for simultaneous FISH detection of cysts using fluorescent antibody (genotype marker) and two oligonucleotide probes (species marker) permitted visualization of G. lamblia and G. muris cysts in the same preparation. Testing of an environmental water sample revealed the presence of FISH-positive G. lamblia cysts with a specific rDNA probe for rRNA, while negative cysts were presumed to be of animal or bird origin. (J Histochem Cytochem 53:917927, 2005)
Key Words: cysts fluorescent in situ hybridization Giardia lamblia Giardia muris Giardia ardeae rDNA probes trophozoites
GIARDIASIS IS GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED and is responsible for 200 million cases per year of symptomatic disease in third-world countries, and it is estimated that 500,000 new cases occur each year (World Health Organization 1996
Classical approaches to parasitology, based on host specificity and trophozoite morphometrics, recognized over forty different species of Giardia (Kulda and Noh
Phylogenetically, rRNA is conserved in function, organization, and sequence, and most cells contain thousands of copies within ribosomes, making this molecule an ideal target for development of genus- and species-specific probes. rRNA sequencing has been used in over 2000 microorganisms and cells, including five different species of Giardia, to establish phylogenetic relationships (van Keulen et al. 1993
Molecular approaches to characterizing or detecting Giardia spp. have included chromosomal band analysis (Campbell et al. 1990 The aim of this study was to develop FISH methods for detecting rRNA in Giardia spp. cysts. Oligonucleotides specific for rRNA-variable regions in different species of Giardia were labeled with haptens or fluorochromes. A method was developed for identifying Giardia spp. cysts in environmental samples using immunochemical localization of cyst wall antigens, and speciation of these cysts was accomplished by simultaneous FISH with multiple fluorochrome-labeled probes emitting at different wavelengths.
Trophozoites and Cysts of Giardia Trophozoites of G. lamblia (human isolates) and G. ardeae (from great blue heron) were grown in culture on a modified TYI-33 medium as previously described (Erlandsen and Bemrick 1987
DNA Probe Synthesis and Labeling
Cell Fixation and Permeabilization Trophozoites were attached to poly-L-lysine-subbed slides for 30 min at 37C, then rinsed in PBS at 37C, and immersed in a hypotonic buffer (10 mM Tris, 10 mM NaCl, 10 mM MgCl2) at 37C for 10 min. Slides were then transferred to hypontonic buffer containing 0.5% Nonidet P-40 (Sigma Chemical Co.; St. Louis, MO) and 0.2% deoxycholate for an additional 10 min before fixation. Cysts were attached directly to poly-L-lysine slides, and both trophozoites and cysts were fixed in 1.6% paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M sodium borate buffer, pH 8.0, for 90 min, and then allowed to air dry.
Prehybridization and Hybridization
Alkaline Phosphatase Incubation for Digoxygenin-labeled Probes
Immunocytochemistry and Multiple rDNA Hybridization
Controls
Microscopy
Based on evolutionary comparisons in the SSU of rDNA in Giardia spp. (van Keulen et al. 1993
Hybridization of the antisense 17-mer oligonucleotide (11971180) probe in variable region 8, but labeled at the 5' end with Cy3, produced intense and uniform labeling of cytoplasm in G. lamblia cysts and trophozoites (Figures 2C and 2E). In trophozoites, hybridization signal for rRNA was also detected within nuclei. Immunohistochemistry with fluoroscein-conjugated monoclonal antibody (RD348) specific for Giardia cyst wall antigen combined with FISH for rRNA (antisense probes 7653, 198176, and 11971180; Cy3-labeled at the 5' end) successfully demonstrated the peripheral location of the cyst wall (green) surrounding the intense hybridization signal (red) in the cyst cytoplasm (Figure 3A) . Controls employed for specificity of rDNA probes included the elimination of hybridization signal by digesting cells with RNase (Figure 3B), no diminished hybridization staining by using oxidized RNase, which lacks enzyme activity (Figure 3C), the use of high stringency in 0.1x SSC at temperatures exceeding the Tm by 5C (Figure 3D), the lack of hybridization signal when unlabeled probe was used (Figure 3E), the lack of binding of free Cy3 dye to cyst cytoplasm (Figure 3F), and the elimination of specific hybridization signal when a ratio of 100:1 (unlabeled to labeled) Cy3-labeled rDNA probe was employed (Figure 3G).
Detection of rRNA in Giardia cysts by fluorochrome-labeled antisense oligonucleotide probes was achieved with cysts freshly isolated from fecal samples (human isolate, mouse isolate), and could also be accomplished with cysts stored in formalin for up to nine months (Figure 4A) with no decrease in hybridization signal. Experiments on specificity of oligonucleotide probes for individual species of Giardia clearly showed that the G. lamblia rDNA probes produced strong hybridization signals in trophozoites isolated from humans (ten strains tested), and lack of hybridization to G. muris cysts or G. ardeae trophozoites (Figure 4B); a lack of cross-reactivity was also observed with G. psittaci and G. microti cysts (data not shown). The G. muris oligonucleotide probes tested produced intense hybridization signal in cysts from mice (Figure 4C), but were entirely negative in production of signal in G. lamblia cysts (Figure 4D) or trophozoites of G. ardeae (Figure 4E).
Multiple labeling of populations of G. lamblia and G. muris cysts was investigated by combining the G. lamblia-specific probe labeled with Cy5 and the G. muris-specific probe labeled with FluorX, and performing hybridizations simultaneously (Figures 5A and 5B) . Use of relatively pure or enriched populations of these two cysts resulted in minimal background staining. Intense specific hybridization signals for rRNA were detected in the cytoplasm of G. lamblia and G. muris. Giardia cysts could be identified by strong specific cytoplasmic hybridization signals, surrounded by an immunostained cyst wall (red) indirectly immunostained with rabbit anti-GLMB and goat anti-rabbit IgG labeled with Cy3.
To test the effectiveness of fluorchrome-labeled rDNA probes for cyst detection, two types of environmental samples were investigated. G. lamblia cysts of human origin were mixed with mouse (Figure 5C) or human fecal material (Figure 5D). High backgrounds of nonspecific staining of debris was observed with the Cy3-labeled SSU rDNA probe (7553); however, recognition of Giardia cysts was readily accomplished at low magnification due to the combination of immunolabeling of the cyst wall for genus identification with the strong hybridization signal with species-specific oligonucleotide rDNA probes. In a second group of samples obtained from Canadian environmental water samples, combined immunostaining for Giardia cyst wall antigens and hybridization with a G. lamblia-specific rDNA probe (198176) demonstrated the presence of G. lamblia cysts (Figure 5E) that were previously identified as genotype A by van Keulen et al. (2002)
The results presented here clearly demonstrate that variable regions in the 16S SSU of rRNA can be used to design species-specific rDNA probes for FISH detection of different Giardia spp. Contrary to the dogma that mRNA is unstable due to intrinsic RNase activity, cellular rRNA binds ribosomal proteins and is extremely stable and resistant to degradation. Data for oligonucleotide sequence-specific probes in three different variable regions (V1, V3, and V8) in rRNA from G. lamblia, G. muris, and G. ardeae were obtained from direct comparisons of sequence alignment of the entire 16S SSU for these three species (van Keulen et al. 1993
In the last decade, genetic analysis has revealed considerable levels of diversity in G. lamblia (Thompson et al. 2000
Detection of Giardia in environmental water and fecal samples has been investigated using PCR amplification with gene probes for giardin genes (Mahbubani et al. 1992 In this study, we have shown that FISH with rDNA probes can positively identify G. lamblia in water samples under outbreak conditions (Figure 5E). The application of this technique to routine monitoring could be an important improvement in the analysis of water samples, especially using the enhanced recovery offered by US Environmental Protection Agency Method 1623, because results could be obtained more quickly than by PCR methods. The identification of cysts that are not G. lamblia and do not correspond to isolates known to infect humans would help refine risk evaluation and would prevent unnecessary boil water advisories. It would also require that "zero tolerance" regulatory policies such as that adopted in Canada during the late 1990s (since rescinded) need to be re-evaluated to allow for the occurrence of species that are not infective to humans.
In summary, we believe that further refinement of our microscopic FISH approach using immunochemical identification of genotypic markers (cyst wall antigens) in combination with species-specific fluorescent oligonucleotides may provide a convenient and specific method for the simultaneous detection of different G. lamblia strains or other species (animal or bird origin). Use of multiple fluorescent probes for genus- and species-specific genes, combined with either microarray technology (Wang et al. 2004
This work was supported in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Grant EPA 1R821404). The authors wish to thank Mr. Walt Jakubowski for discussions.
Received for publication February 17, 2005; accepted February 22, 2005
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