The African buffalo parasite Theileria. sp. (buffalo) can infect and immortalize cattle leukocytes and encodes divergent orthologues of Theileria parva antigen genes.

ABSTRACT: African Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is the wildlife reservoir of multiple species within the apicomplexan protozoan genus Theileria, including Theileria parva which causes East coast fever in cattle. A parasite, which has not yet been formally named, known as Theileria sp. (buffalo) has been recognized as a potentially distinct species based on rDNA sequence, since 1993. We demonstrate using reverse line blot (RLB) and sequencing of 18S rDNA genes, that in an area where buffalo and cattle co-graze and there is a heavy tick challenge, T. sp. (buffalo) can frequently be isolated in culture from cattle leukocytes. We also show that T. sp. (buffalo), which is genetically very closely related to T. parva, according to 18s rDNA sequence, has a conserved orthologue of the polymorphic immunodom

SUBMITTER: Bishop RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4589832 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature