Molecular epidemiological survey of benign Theileria parasites of cattle in Japan: detection of a new type of major piroplasm surface protein gene.
Benign Theileria species of cattle are found in most parts of the world. The major piroplasm surface protein (MPSP), a conserved protein in all Theileria species, has been used as a maker for epidemiological and phylogenetical studies of benign Theileria species. Parasites with Ikeda- or Chitose-type MPSP genes are dominant in Japan, but we report here mixed infection cases of Theileria parasites with an additional MPSP type parasite infecting cattle in Abashiri District, Hokkaido. The MPSP gene sequence found in the additional type was closely related to MPSP genes of Theileria parasites found in Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand (Narathiwat) and Indonesia (Java). Theileria parasites from the blood sample were also distinguishable from the Ikeda or Chitose type parasites by the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequence analysis, and they are grouped into the SSU rRNA types C/D found in Korea, North America, and Spain. The present finding of mixed infections of cattle with three different types of Theileria makes epidemiological feature of bovine theileriosis in Japan more complex. We have designed a set of primers specific to this MPSP type in order to conduct further epidemiological study.
Kim
Jung-Yeon
JY
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan.
Yokoyama
Naoaki
N
Kumar
Sanjay
S
Inoue
Noboru
N
Yamaguchi
Toshiaki
T
Sentoku
Sachiko
S
Fujisaki
Kozo
K
Sugimoto
Chihiro
C
D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D016794:Theileria / Q000235:genetics*; D013801:Theileriasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*
D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D017931:DNA Primers; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C115173:major piroplasm surface protein, Theileria