title: PCR-RFLP analysis of the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene discriminates between C. wrairi and C. parvum, and between C. parvum isolates of human and animal origin.
abstract: Cryptosporidium wrairi was isolated from guinea pigs during a spontaneous outbreak of cryptosporidiosis. Despite the morphological and antigenic similarities to C. parvum, C. wrairi displayed a different host range and site of infection and may represent a separate species or sub-species. We used the polymerase chain reaction to clone two distinct 550 bp-long DNA fragments, Wc-I and Wc-II, of the gene encoding the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) of C. wrairi, which showed 98% identity to the C. parvum homologue. Within Wc-I, polymorphic Rsal restriction sites were used to develop a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method able to distinguish C. wrairi from C. parvum and to identify two groups of C. parvum isolates differentially associated with animal and human infections.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Parasskitologia, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Spano
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Putignani
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McLauchlin
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Casemore
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crisanti
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000235:genetics*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006168:Guinea Pigs / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012418:Ruminants / Q000469:parasitology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C106305:oocyst wall protein, Cryptosporidium