title: Serodiagnosis of Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs by an improved enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with recombinant truncated P50.
abstract: The surface antigen P50 of Babesia gibsoni is an important candidate for the development of a diagnostic reagent for canine piroplasmosis. In order to establish an effective diagnostic method for practical use, the gene encoding truncated P50 (P50t) lacking a signal peptide and C-terminal hydrophobic regions were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase (GST). More than 90% portion of the GST-P50t was expressed as a soluble form, in contrast with GST-P50f (full-length), which was completely expressed as an insoluble form. This result indicates that removal of the hydrophobic signal peptide and C-terminus had dramatically improved its hydrophilicity. The purified GST-P50t was tested in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of antibodies to B. gibsoni in dogs. The ELISA with GST-P50t clearly differentiated between B. gibsoni-infected dog sera and uninfected dog sera. In addition, the ELISA detected no cross-reactivity with sera from dogs experimentally infected with the closely related parasites, B. canis canis, B. canis vogeli, and B. canis rossi. Field serum samples collected from dogs in Japan and China were examined for the diagnosis of B. gibsoni infection by using the ELISA. 14.5% (9/62), 5.8% (7/120), and 5.4% (2/37) of tested samples were positive for dogs from Okinawa, Yamaguchi, and Osaka prefectures, Japan, respectively. On the other hand, 4.8% (2/41) of tested samples were positive for dogs from Nanjing, China. These results suggest that the GST-P50t could be a reliable reagent for practical use in ELISA for the serodiagnosis of canine piroplasmosis caused by B. gibsoni.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Rodolfo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Verdida
authors.forename: Olgga A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Xuenan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukumoto
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: Shoufa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Junyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inokuma
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kabeya
authors.forename: Yukita
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Tadaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moritomo
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Florencia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Claveria
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D001403:Babesia; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D002681:China; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers; D004285:Dogs / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000662:veterinary; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D007564:Japan; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D017931:DNA Primers; C434466:P50 protein, Babesia gibsoni; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D005982:Glutathione Transferase