title: Redescription of Besnoitia bennetti (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from the donkey (Equus asinus).
abstract: Besnoitia bennetti tissue cysts were found in four naturally-infected donkeys (Equus asinus) from the USA. Infectivity of its bradyzoites and tachyzoites to animals and cell culture was studied. The bradyzoites were not infectious to out-bred Swiss Webster mice, rabbits or gerbils. When fed tissue cysts, cats did not excrete oocysts. However, the parasite was infectious to interferon-gamma gene knock out mice. The parasite from tissues of two donkeys was grown successfully in bovine monocyte monolayers for the first time. Non-dividing, uninucleate tachyzoites were approximately 6 x 1.5 microm in size. Longitudinally-cut bradyzoites in tissue sections measured 8.7 x 1.9 microm. Ultrastructurally, tachyzoites and bradyzoites were similar to those in other Besnoitia species, and in particular to parasites described from cattle (Besnoitia besnoiti) and reindeer (Besnoitia tarandi), in that their bradyzoites lacked enigmatic bodies. Based on comparative analysis of three portions of nuclear ribosomal DNA (the small and large subunits and the first internal transcribed spacer) B. bennetti was found to be more closely related to the other congeners described from ungulates. The parasite was formally redescribed and specimens deposited in the US National Parasite Collections.
authors.affiliation: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, MD 20705-2350, USA. jdubey@anri.barc.usda.gov
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sreekumar
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rozmanec
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.forename: M C B
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Vianna
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Belden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003470:Culture Media; D003560:Cysts / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D018397:Equidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000379:methods; D005849:Gerbillinae; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011817:Rabbits; D021745:Sarcocystidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D012876:Skin Diseases, Parasitic / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal