Characterisation of a Babesia orientalis apical membrane antigen, and comparison of its orthologues among selected apicomplexans.
In the present study, we identified and characterised the complete coding sequence of Babesia orientalis apical membrane antigen 1 (designated Bo-ama1); it is 1803bp in length and encodes a polypeptide of 601 amino acids (aa). The Bo-ama-1 gene product (Bo-AMA1) is predicted to be 67kDa in size and contains a signal peptide. Mature Bo-AMA1 is predicted to have one transmembrane region and a short cytoplasmic tail (C-terminal domain). The extracellular part of Bo-AMA1 has three functional domains (DI, DII and DIII) with 14 conserved cysteine residues. A Bo-AMA1 fragment containing all three of these domains (designated Bo-AMA1-DI/II/III) was cloned into the plasmid vector pET-28a and expressed as a recombinant (His-fusion) protein of 53kDa. Antibodies in the serum from a B. orientalis-infected water buffalo specifically recognised this protein in immunoblotting analysis. Rabbit antibodies raised against the recombinant protein were able to detect native Bo-AMA1 (67kDa) from erythrocytes of B. orientalis-infected water buffalo. Bo-AMA1 is a new member of the AMA1 family and might be a good antigen for the specific detection of antibodies produced in B. orientalis infected cattle. This protein is likely to play critical roles during host cell adherence and invasion by B. orientalis, as the AMA1s reported in other organisms such as Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii. Further research is required to explore the biological functions of this protein and to determine whether its immunisation can induce protective effects in water buffalo against B. orientalis infection.
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemical Disease and Infectious Zoonoses, Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China.
Lan
L
He
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: 375175369@qq.com.
Lizhe
L
Fan
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: 1057030377@qq.com.
Jinfang
J
Hu
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: 525574062@qq.com.
Xiaoyan
X
Miao
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: 543612282@qq.com.
Yuan
Y
Huang
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemical Disease and Infectious Zoonoses, Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: yanqinzhou@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
Yanqin
Y
Zhou
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemical Disease and Infectious Zoonoses, Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: mhu@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
Min
M
Hu
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemical Disease and Infectious Zoonoses, Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: zhaojunlong@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
Junlong
J
Zhao
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001403:Babesia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002020:Buffaloes / Q000469:parasitology*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
Apical membrane antigen 1; Apicomplexans; Babesia orientalis; Babesiosis