Abstract
The apicomplexan parasite Theileria orientalis is a tick-borne intracellular protozoan parasite that is widely distributed throughout China. It causes bovine theileriosis in infected cattle, which results in huge economic losses to the cattle industry. In this study, the infection status of T. orientalis was determined in 260 blood samples from cattle from seven provinces across China. Results of a major piroplasm surface protein (MPSP)-PCR assay revealed that an average of 36.5% (95/260) of cattle was positive for T. orientalis infection. Based on the MPSP gene sequences, phylogenetic analysis revealed that these isolates of T. orientalis comprised of eight MPSP types, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, N1, and N2. This is the first report of new T. orientalis MPSP genotypes N1 and N2 in cattle in China.
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Funding
This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFD0501200); ASTIP (CAAS-ASTIP-2016-LVRI); NBCIS (CARS-37); 973 Program (2015CB150300); and Jiangsu Co-innovation Center program for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Disease and Zoonose.
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Designed the study: Guiquan Guan, Hong Yin, and Jinming Wang; performed the experiments: Jinming Wang, Xiaoxing Wang, and Jianlin Xu; analyzed the data: Jifei Yang; wrote the paper: Jinming Wang, Jifei Yang. Junlong Liu, Aihong Liu, Youquan Li, and Jianxun Luo supervised all work. All authors have read and approve the final version of the manuscript.
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The collection and manipulation of blood samples were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. All sampling procedures were handled in accordance with the Animal Ethics Procedures and Guidelines of the People’s Republic of China.
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Wang, J., Yang, J., Liu, J. et al. Molecular detection and genetic diversity of Theileria orientalis in cattle in China. Parasitol Res 117, 3689–3694 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6023-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6023-3