MICROSATELLITE POLYMORPHISM IN Tritrichomonas foetus.

RIVERO MB; RIVERO FD; ABDALA ME; LUQUE ME; CARRANZA PG; BARRIONUEVO MG; CORIA MS; PALMA GA

Tucuman

Congreso; 3ra Reunión de las Sociedades de Biología de la República Argentina.; 2015

Bovine trichomonosis is a sexually transmitted parasitic disease that causes great economic losses. In Argentine, where livestock is extensive and reproduction is mainly made by natural service, it is considered endemic and an important health problem. The causative agent is the protozoan flagellate Tritrichomonas foetus. While other markers (RFLP, RAPD, SNP) have been used to gain information about the genetics of this parasite, microsatellites (STR) have not yet been employed for this purpose. STRs are considered the most appropriate tool to characterize genotypes because of their multilocus nature, high diversity and sensitivity. They are useful in studies of genomic variation, association and detection of mixed infections. The intraespecies biological variability existing in T. foetus made diagnosis and treatment difficult. That is why the aim of this work was the study of STR for the first time in this parasite to determine its genetic variability. Since sequencing projects have not been completed yet, genome sequences of its evolutionary counterpart Trichomonas vaginalis were used. Six markers were amplified by PCR in DNA samples from six different T. foetus isolates. The products obtained showed size polymorphisms with respect to T. vaginalis and between individuals. Obtaining the sequence of these products allows the generation of specific oligonucleotides to provide a useful tool for population and epidemiological studies contributing to develop improvements in disease control and the design of more effective of diagnostic methods.