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The trichomonad species Tetratrichomonas buttreyi and Pentatrichomonas hominis have been reported in the bovine digestive tract in only a few studies, and the prevalence and pathogenicity of these two protists in cattle herds remain unknown. In this study, the prevalence of T. buttreyi and P. hominis in yellow cattle, dairy cattle, and water buffalo in Anhui Province, China, was determined with a PCR analysis of the small subunit ribosomal RNA genes. The overall infection rates for T. buttreyi and P. hominis were 8.1% and 5.4%, respectively. Double infections were found in 15 (1.6%) samples from four farms. The prevalence of P. hominis in cattle with abnormal feces was significantly higher than that in cattle with normal feces (χ2 = 13.0, p < 0.01), and the prevalence of T. buttreyi in the northern region of Anhui Province was also significantly higher than that in the mid region (χ2 = 16.6, p < 0.01). Minor allelic variations were detected in the T. buttreyi isolates from cattle in this study, as in other hosts in previous studies. Morphological observations, together with the PCR analysis, demonstrated that the trichomonads isolated in this study were P. hominis. The presence of T. buttreyi and P. hominis indicated that cattle are natural hosts of these two trichomonads and could be a potential source of P. hominis infections in humans and other animal hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

' Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' is a hemoplasma species found in cattle and has been recently reported in Switzerland and Japan. In this study, ' Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' was shown to occur in cattle and buffalo in tropical China by PCR amplification and sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene from blood samples. Based on the 16S rDNA sequence, a specific PCR assay was developed. Occurrence of ' Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' in cattle and buffalo in Guangxi, China, was determined by examining 25 buffalo blood samples, 12 yellow cattle blood samples and 42 dairy cow blood samples. The results showed that 32% (8/25) of buffalo, 41.7% (5/12) of yellow cattle, and 14.3% (6/42) of dairy cows were positive for ' Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos', respectively. Direct sequencing of representative PCR products confirmed that the amplified partial 16S rDNA sequence represented ' Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos'. This is the first report of ' Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' in buffalo, yellow cattle, and dairy cows in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]