title: Moving towards an integrated approach to molecular detection and identification of Toxoplasma gondii.
abstract: The development of simple, sensitive and rapid methods for the detection and identification of Toxoplasma gondii is important for the diagnosis and epidemiological studies of the zoonotic disease toxoplasmosis. In the past 2 decades, molecular methods based on a variety of genetic markers have been developed, each with its advantages and limitations. The application of these methods has generated invaluable information to enhance our understanding of the epidemiology, population genetics and phylogeny of T. gondii. However, since most studies focused solely on the detection but not genetic characterization of T. gondii, the information obtained was limited. In this review, we discuss some widely used molecular methods and propose an integrated approach for the detection and identification of T. gondii, in order to generate maximum information for epidemiological, population and phylogenetic studies of this key pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. csu1@utk.edu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Shwab
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: X Q
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins