title: Babesia bigemina infection in yak (Poephagus grunniens L.): molecular detection and characterization.
abstract: Yaks contribute significantly in the Himalayan high land economy. Specific information on prevalence of babesiosis in yaks is lacking. A fast and reliable PCR assay targeting Babesia bigemina small subunit ribosomal RNA sequence (SS rRNA) was laboratory standardized for molecular detection of B. bigemina in yaks. Restriction digestion of the PCR amplified 675 bp target sequence with Vsp I confirmed the prevalent species of Babesia as B. bigemina. Nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of PCR amplified 675 bp SS rRNA sequence revealed a close genetic relationship with other bovine isolates of B. bigemina. A PCR based survey involving 94 blood samples of yak from the National Research Centre on Yak, Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh detected infection in 5.32% of yak blood samples, which was significantly higher in comparison to microscope based detection of infection in 2.13% blood smears. This is the first report on sensitive PCR based detection of B. bigemina infection in yaks and PCR-RFLP and nucleotide sequence analysis based molecular characterization of the B. bigemina isolated from yaks.
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre on Yak, Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh 790 101, India. drbcsaravanan@gmail.com
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Saravanan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Siju
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Tewari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kataktalware
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ramesha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000235:genetics*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D016053:RNA, Protozoan