title: Genetic diversity and molecular characterization of Babesia motasi-like in small ruminants and ixodid ticks from China.
abstract: Ovine babesioses, an important tick-borne disease of sheep and goats in China, is caused by the reproduction of intraerythrocytic protozoa of the Babesia genus. Babesia motasi-like is a Babesia parasite that infects small ruminant in China, and two sub-groups of B. motasi-like can be subdivided based on differences in the rhoptry-associated-protein-1 gene. This study aimed to characterize the distribution, epidemiology and genetics of B. motasi-like in animals and ticks. A molecular investigation was carried out from 2009 to 2015 in 16 provinces in China. In total, 1081 blood samples were collected from sheep and goats originating from 27 different regions, and 778 ixodid tick samples were collected from 8 regions; the samples were tested for the presence of B. motasi-like using a specific nested PCR assay based on the rap-1b gene. The results indicated that 139 (12.9%), 91 (8.4%), 48 (4.4%) and 6 (0.7%) of the blood samples were positive for general B. motasi-like, Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan and Ningxian), Babesia sp. Tianzhu and Babesia sp. Hebei sub-groups, mixed infections, respectively. Among the collected 778 ixodid ticks (including Haemaphysalis longicornis, Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis, Dermacentor silvarum, Ixodes persulcatus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus), the most frequently infected with Babesia were D. silvarum and I. persulcatus (35.7%), followed by H. longicornis (26.8%), H. qinghaiensis (24.8%) and R. sanguineus (9.3%). The PCR results were confirmed by DNA sequencing. The positive rates of B. motasi-like infection in ticks were found to be higher in China, compared with previous studies in other countries. B. motasi-like infections have not previously been reported in D. silvarum, I. persulcatus or R. sanguineus. The findings obtained in this study could be used for planning effective control strategies against babesiosis in China.
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China. Electronic address: niuqingli@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Qingli
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Niu
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China. Electronic address: liuzhijie@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Zhijie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China. Electronic address: yangjifei@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Jifei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China. Electronic address: ypf19890123@163.com.
authors.forename: Peifa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yu
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China. Electronic address: 1592070041@qq.com.
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China. Electronic address: 1020251146@qq.com.
authors.forename: Bintao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhai
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China. Electronic address: luojianxun@caas.cn.
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 Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, PR China. Electronic address: yinhong@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004199:Disease Vectors; D015870:Gene Expression; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006041:Goats; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C097551:rhoptry-associated protein-1, Babesia
keywords: B. motasi-like; Genetic characterization; Molecular survey; rap-1b