Taking advantage of the polymorphism of the MSA-2 family for Babesia bovis strain characterization.

WILKOWSKY S; FARBER M; ECHAIDE I; MOSQUEDA, J; ALCARAZ, E.; SUAREZ C,; FLORIN-CHRISTENSEN M

Parassitologia

Italian Society of Parasitology

Lugar: Roma; Año: 2007 vol. 49 p. 63 - 66

The Merozoite Surface Antigen-2 (MSA-2) family of Babesia bovis is a group of variable genes which shareconserved 5´and 3´conserved ends. These genes encode membrane anchored glycoproteins, named MSA-2a1,a2, b and c, which are immunodominant antigens located on the surface of sporozoites and merozoites. In this work,we have analyzed the sequences of the msa-2a1, a2 and 2b genes in two geographically distant strains from Mexicoand Argentina and detected a certain degree of genotypic diversity that can be exploited for the development of anew molecular tool for the discrimination of B. bovis field samples. Here, we describe a PCR restriction assay basedon the msa2-a1, -a2 and -2b genes of B. bovis. When field strains from Argentina, Mexico and USA were analyzed,the results showed a strain-specific band pattern indicating the presence of differentially located BspMI restrictionsites. This approach provides a simple method for the genotyping /strain differentiation of B. bovis field samples.