Theileria parasite infection in East Asia and control of the disease.
Bovine piroplasmosis caused by Theileria sergenti is a major cause of economic loss in grazing cattle in Japan. We found that parasite stocks and isolates consist of genetically and antigenically mixed populations. To differentiate among parasite populations bearing 3 allelic forms of p32/34, an immunodominant piroplasmin surface protein, 3 sets of oligonucleotide primers were designed to amplify either of 3 alleles of T. sergenti/T. buffeli/T. orientalis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). By using this allele-specific PCR, we found that in East Asia the majority of bovines infected with benign Theileria parasites harbored mixed parasite population. As a possible means of controlling Theileria sergenti infection, we produced 2 candidate vaccines; a bactilovirus expressed recombinant p32 and a synthetic peptide containing of Lys-Glu Lys (KEK) motif. Immunization with either of two candidates resulted in lower parasitemia and reduced the severity of clinical symptoms as compared to control calves.
Department of Disease Control, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
M
M
Onuma
T
T
Kakuda
C
C
Sugimoto
D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry; D005202:Asia, Eastern; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology; D016794:Theileria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D013801:Theileriasis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology
D017931:DNA Primers; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; C085175:piroplasm surface protein p32, Theileria sergenti