title: Identification and characterization of Tu88, an antigenic gene from Theileria uilenbergi.
abstract: Theileria uilenbergi is a pathogen that causes ovine theileriosis. Prevention and control of theileriosis relies on its diagnosis at early stages of occurrence and requires understanding of proteins with antigenic properties from the pathogen. Despite its prevalence in China, only a few molecules with antigenic properties have been characterized from T. uilenbergi. In this study, we identified a cDNA named Tu88 by immunoscreening a T. uilenbergi merozoite cDNA library with T. uilenbergi-positive sera from infected sheep. Recombinant Tu88 (rTu88) expressed in bacteria reacted strongly with the positive sera of T. uilenbergi in western blot analysis indicating its potential as an antigen. Southern blot analysis showed that it is a single copy gene. Protein localization by immunostaining blood smears from an infected sheep demonstrated the presence of native Tu88 in merozoites. These findings suggest that Tu88 is a potential candidate antigen for the development of a sero-diagnostic tool.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Yizhu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Yuefeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Youquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Huitian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Jianxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases, Yangzhou, China. Electronic address: yinhong@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China. Electronic address: liuzhijie@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Zhijie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D016794:Theileria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D013801:Theileriasis / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D018076:DNA, Complementary
keywords: Antigenic protein; Merozoite; Theileria uilenbergi; Theileriosis; Tu88 gene