Toxoplasma gondii rhoptry protein 38 gene: sequence variation among isolates from different hosts and geographical locations.
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that is able to infect almost all mammalian species, and may lead to toxoplasmosis of the host. In the present study, we examined sequence variation in rhoptry protein 38 (ROP38) genes among T. gondii isolates collected from different hosts and geographical regions. The complete ROP38 gene from 13 T. gondii isolates was amplified and sequenced. The results of sequence alignments showed that the lengths of the entire ROP38 gene ranged from 2646 to 2650 bp, with a sequence variation of 0.2-1.1%, among the 13 T. gondii isolates. This result indicated low sequence variation in the ROP38 gene. Phylogenetic analysis of ROP38 sequences using Bayesian inference showed that the clustering of the 13 T. gondii isolates was not consistent with their respective genotypes. This result indicates that the ROP38 gene is not a suitable genetic marker for population genetic studies of different T. gondii genotypes from different hosts and geographical locations, but may represent a potential vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis, and hence worthy of further research.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
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Y
Xu
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
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NZ
Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
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J
Chen
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
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Liu
College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China qmxu@sina.com.
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QM
Xu
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China.
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DH
Zhou
College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
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XQ
Zhu
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002415:Cats; D003670:Deer; D005838:Genotype; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D046011:Puma; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012756:Sheep; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000469:parasitology
D015800:Protozoan Proteins