A recently identified ovine Babesia in China: Serology and sero-epidemiology

et al. 2020

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Abstract Background: Babesiosis, a tick-borne disease caused by protozoa of the genus Babesia , is widespread in subtropical and tropical countries. Mitochondria are essential organelles that are responsible for energy transduction and metabolism, calcium homeostasis and cell signaling. Mitochondrial genomes could provide new insight to help elucidate and investigate the biological features, genetic evolution and classification of the protozoa. Nevertheless, there are limited data on the mitochondrial genomes of ovine Babesia spp. in China. Methods: Herein, we sequenced, assembled and annotated the mitochondrial genomes of six ovine Babesia isolates; analyzed the genome size, gene content, genome structure and cytochrome b ( cob ) amino acid sequences; and performed comparative mitochondrial genomics and phylogenomic analyses among apicomplexan parasites. Results: The mitochondrial genomes range from 5767 to 5946 bp in length with a linear form and contain three protein-encoding genes, cytochrome c oxidase I ( cox1 ), cytochrome c oxidase III ( cox3 ) and cob , six large subunit rRNA genes (LSU), and two terminal inverted repeats (TIR) on both ends. The cob gene sequence analysis indicated the binding site of anti- Babesia drugs that targeted the cytochrome bc 1 complex. Babesia microti and Babesia rodhaini have a dual flip-flop inversion of 184-1082 bp, whereas other Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. have one pair of TIRs, 25-1563 bp. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the six ovine Babesia isolates were divided into two clades, Babesia sp. and Babesia motasi . B. motasi isolates were further separated into two small clades ( B. motasi Hebei/Ningxian and B. motasi Tianzhu/Lintan). Conclusions: The data provided new insights into the taxonomic relationships and drug targets of apicomplexan parasites.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…and cause a range of clinical manifestations. BspXJ/DH is serologically distinct from B. motasi, and there are also differences between isolates of B. motasi [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The prevalences of B. motasi and Babesia sp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Insights into the phylogenetic relationships and drug targets of Babesia isolates infective to small ruminants from the mitochondrial genomes

Wang

et al. 2020

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“…Sera from the 9 sheep of pre-infection were considered as the negative sera (Guan et al 2012b). BQ1 (Lintan) (16 sera from 2 sheep), Babesia sp.…”

Section: Parasites and Seramentioning

confidence: 99%

A member of the HSP90 family from ovineBabesiain China: molecular characterization, phylogenetic analysis and antigenicity

Guan

et al. 2015

Parasitology

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Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a key component of the molecular chaperone complex essential for activating many signalling proteins involved in the development and progression of pathogenic cellular transformation. A Hsp90 gene (BQHsp90) was cloned and characterized from Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan), an ovine Babesia isolate belonging to Babesia motasi-like group, by screening a cDNA expression library and performing rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The full-length cDNA of BQHsp90 is 2399 bp with an open reading frame of 2154 bp encoding a predicted 83 kDa polypeptide with 717 amino acid residues. It shows significant homology and similar structural characteristics to Hsp90 of other apicomplex organisms. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the HSP90 amino acid sequences, showed that the Babesia genus is clearly separated from other apicomplexa genera. Five Chinese ovine Babesia isolates were divided into 2 phylogenetic clusters, namely Babesia sp. Xinjiang (previously designated a new species) cluster and B. motasi-like cluster which could be further divided into 2 subclusters (Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan)/Babesia sp. Tianzhu and Babesia sp. BQ1 (Ningxian)/Babesia sp. Hebei). Finally, the antigenicity of rBQHSP90 protein from prokaryotic expression was also evaluated using western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

“…and cause a range of mild to severe clinical manifestations. BspXJ/DH is serologically distinct from B. motasi, and there are also with serological difference between isolates of B. motasi [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The prevalence of B. motasi and Babesia sp.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…were 30.4-31.7% and 36.0-43.5%, respectively, which indicated that ovine Babesia spp. are widespread in China [11,[13][14][15].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights into the phylogenetic relationship and drug targets of Babesia infective to small ruminants from its mitochondrial genomes

Wang

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

Background: Babesiosis, a tick-borne disease caused by protozoans of the genus Babesia, is widespread in subtropical and tropical countries. Mitochondrion is an essential organelle that is responsible for energy transduction and metabolism, calcium homeostasis and cell signaling. Mitochondrial genomes could provide a new insight to understand and explore the population genetics, biological features of the pathogens, and evolutionary relationships. However, there is limied information on the mitochondrial genomes of ovine Babesia spp. in China.Methods: Herein, we sequenced, assembled and annotated the mitochondrial genomes of six ovine Babesia isolates, and analyzed genome size, gene content, genome structure and cytochrome b (cob) amino acid sequences, and performed comparative mitochondrial genomics and phylogenomic analyses among apicomplexan parasites.Results: The mitochondrial genomes range from 5767 to 5946 bp in length with a linear form and contain three protein-encoding genes, cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1), cytochrome c oxidase III (cox3) and cob, six large subunit rRNA gene (LSU), and two terminal inverted repeats (TIR) on both ends. The cob sequence analysis indicated that the binding site of anti-Babesia drugs targeted on the cytochrome bc1 complex. Babesia microti and Babesia rodhaini have a dual flip-flop inversion of 184-1082 bp, whereas other Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. have one pair of TIR, 25-1563 bp. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that six ovine Babesia isolates were divided into two clades, Babesia sp. and Babesia motasi. B. motasi isolates were further separated into two subclades (B. motasi Lintan/Tianzhu and B. motasi Ningxian/Hebei).Conclusions: The data provided new insights into the population genetics, taxonomic relationships, molecular epidemiological studies and drug targets of apicomplexan parasites.