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A Babesia bovis gene syntenic to Theileria parva p67 is expressed in blood and tick stage parasites
Completion of the Babesia bovis (T2Bo strain) genome provides detailed data concerning the predicted proteome of this parasite, and allows for a bioinformatics approach to gene discovery. Comparative genomics of the hemoprotozoan parasites B. bovis and Theileria parva revealed a highly conserved syn...
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Published in: | Veterinary parasitology 2010-10, Vol.173 (3), p.211-218 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Completion of the
Babesia bovis (T2Bo strain) genome provides detailed data concerning the predicted proteome of this parasite, and allows for a bioinformatics approach to gene discovery. Comparative genomics of the hemoprotozoan parasites
B. bovis and
Theileria parva revealed a highly conserved syntenic block of genes flanking the
p67 gene of
T. parva, a sporozoite stage-specific vaccine candidate against East Coast fever (ECF). The syntenic gene in
B. bovis, designated
bov57, encodes a protein of limited amino acid sequence identity (11.8%) to
p67. Monoclonal antibodies were produced against recombinant BOV57 and were used to demonstrate expression of BOV57 in merozoite and kinete stages of the T2Bo strain of
B. bovis. Transcript levels of
bov57 in kinetes were increased 100-fold in comparison to
msa-1, a previously identified gene encoding an erythrocyte stage surface protein. Amino acid sequence comparisons between the T2Bo strain and two attenuated and virulent strains from Argentina and Australia revealed a high degree of sequence conservation in BOV57 among these geographically and pathogenically divergent isolates (97% amino acid sequence identity). Additional genomic comparisons show that the
bov57 gene locus is also conserved in
Babesia bigemina and
Babesia equi. While not identifiable through amino acid or nucleotide sequence similarity, the conserved gene order within this locus in multiple piroplasms may suggest a critical function adapted for each species’ unique host and life-cycle. |
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ISSN: | 0304-4017 1873-2550 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.06.024 |