title: An improved molecular assay for Tritrichomonas foetus.
abstract: Tritrichomonas foetus (T. foetus) is the causative agent of bovine trichomonosis, a sexually transmitted disease leading to abortion (from 1 to 8 months gestation), infertility, and occasional pyometra. The annual losses to the U.S. beef industry are estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Currently, the "gold standard" diagnostic test for trichomonosis in most countries is the cultivation of live organisms from reproductive secretions. The cultured organisms can then be followed by PCR assays with primers that amplify T. foetus to the exclusion of all other trichomonad species. Thus, negative results present as null data, indistinguishable from failed PCR amplification during T. foetus specific amplification. Our newly developed assay improves previously developed PCR based techniques by using diagnostic size variants from within the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region that is between the 18S rRNA and 5.8S rRNA subunits. This new PCR assay amplifies trichomonad DNA from a variety of genera and positively identifies the causative agent in the bovine trichomonad infection. This approach eliminates false negatives found in some current assays as well as identifying the causative agent of trichomonad infection. Additionally, our assay incorporates a fluorescently labeled primer enabling high sensitivity and rapid assessment of the specific trichomonad species. Moreover, electrophoretic separation of amplified samples can be outsourced, thus eliminating the need for diagnostic laboratories to purchase expensive analysis equipment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Grahn
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: BonDurant
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: van Hoosear
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lyons
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012902:Smegma / Q000469:parasitology; D016835:Tritrichomonas foetus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014621:Vagina / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer