Thesis
Serum antibodies from Babesia caballi seropositive horses in the United States demonstrate a protein recognition pattern that is not consistent with infection
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2013
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101369
Abstract
Tick-borne pathogens that cause persistent infections are of major concern to the livestock industry because of the transmission risk and potential economic losses they pose. The recent re-emergence of the apicomplexan Theileria equi in the United States prompted an epidemiological surveillance program to determine the distribution of equine piroplasmosis (EP) in the U.S. horse population. Although the U.S. is considered non-endemic for Babesia caballi, another tick-borne agent of EP, this program identified 100 B. caballi seropositive horses using the commercially available regulatory B. caballi rhoptry associated protein-1(RAP-1) cELISA. The purpose of the present study was to further evaluate the B. caballi-specific antibody response in these horses in an effort to determine infection status. Immunoblotting indicated that serum antibodies from these horses reacted with a whole B. caballi lysate as well as purified native B. caballi RAP-1 protein. Importantly, antibody reactivity against the B. caballi lysate was exclusively directed against a single ~48 KDa band corresponding to the native B. caballi RAP-1 protein. In contrast, sera from experimentally infected and naturally infected horses from Europe and Latin America demonstrated multiple banding patterns ranging from 25 to 50 KDa. We conclude that the patterns of antibody reactivity in the cELISA positive U.S. horses are not consistent with B. caballi infection.
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Details
- Title
- Serum antibodies from Babesia caballi seropositive horses in the United States demonstrate a protein recognition pattern that is not consistent with infection
- Creators
- Peter Omondi Awinda
- Contributors
- Massaro Wilson Ueti (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Veterinary Medicine, College of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525126601842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis