title: Characterization and immunoprotective properties of a monoclonal antibody against the major oocyst wall protein of Eimeria tenella.
abstract: The oocyst wall of Eimeria spp. consists of a 10-nm-thick outer lipid layer and a 90-mm-thick inner layer of glycoprotein which has been described previously to be composed of a single major protein. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions and (125)I labelling of a oocyst wall fragments and of delipidated intact oocysts revealed a molecule of approximately 12 kDa as the major protein component of the oocyst wall of Eimeria tenella. An immunoglobulin M monoclonal antibody (c11B9F3) was produced against this 12-kDa oocyst wall protein sliced from a preparative SDS-polyacrylamide gel. Its reactivity by immunofluorescence against oocyst wall fragments and sporozoites or by immunoperoxidase assays of infected tissue sections was stage restricted to gametocytes and oocysts but pan-specific against all face of the oocyst wall. In chicks passively immunized with C11B9F3, oocyst output was significantly (P<0.01) reduced by 42 to 54% after homologous E. tenella infection and by 35% after heterologous Eimeria maxima infection compared with that of control groups. The results demonstrate the presence of a highly conserved, low-molecular-weight antigen on the oocyst wall and the gametocytes of Eimeria spp. which is a candidate for inclusion in a pan-specific, transmission-blocking vaccine against avian coccidiosis.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Karim
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Basak
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Trees
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis*; D002645:Chickens; D016786:Eimeria tenella / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins