The Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein is a member of a multigene family and has a homolog in Toxoplasma.

ABSTRACT: Coccidian parasites are transmitted via a fecal oocyst stage that is exceptionally resistant to environmental stress and harsh chemical treatments, which allows parasites to stably persist outside a host. Because of its oocyst durability Cryptosporidium parvum is a significant water- and food-borne pathogen of humans, as well as animals of agricultural importance. To date, only one apicomplexan oocyst membrane protein has been identified, Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein 1 (COWP1). COWP1 has a highly cysteine-rich periodicity due to arrays of two apicomplexan-specific motifs, designated the type I and type II domains. In this study, exhaustive BLAST screening of a complete C. parvum genome sequence database resulted in identification of eight additional genes encoding similar arrays of

SUBMITTER: Templeton TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC321576 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature