title: High pathogenicity and strong immunogenicity of a Chinese isolate of Eimeria magna Pérard, 1925.
abstract: Coccidia infection of rabbits with one or several species of parasites of the genus Eimeria causes coccidiosis, a disease leading to huge economic losses in the rabbit industry. Eimeria magna, one of the causal agents of rabbit coccidiosis, was characterized as mildly pathogenic and moderately immunogenic in previous studies. In this study, we identified a Chinese isolate of E. magna by testing its biological features (oocyst morphology and size, prepatent time) and sequencing its internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) DNA fragment. This isolate is highly pathogenic; infection of rabbits with only 1×102oocysts caused a 55% reduction in weight gain in 14days. In addition, immunization with 1×102oocysts prevented body weight loss against re-infection with 5×104oocysts, indicating the high immunogenicity of this isolate. Our study described the distinctive phenotype of the Chinese isolate of E. magna and contributed to the research of geographic variation of rabbit coccidia.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Geru
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yunzhou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075000, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075000, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075000, China.
authors.forename: Sufang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Suo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: liuxianyong@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xianyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D004539:Eimeria / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D007114:Immunization; D033661:Oocysts / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D010641:Phenotype; D011817:Rabbits / Q000469:parasitology*; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer
keywords: Chinese isolate; Eimeria magna; Immunogenicity; Pathogenicity