Babesia detection

Javeed, Nadia N., Shultz, Laura, Barnum, Samantha, Foley, Janet E., Hodzic, Emir, Pascoe, Emily L., Martínez-Lopez, Beatríz, Quinn, Niamh, Bucklin, Danielle & Dear, Jonathan D., 2022, Prevalence and geographic distribution of Babesia conradae and detection of Babesia vogeli in free-ranging California coyotes (Canis latrans), International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 19, pp. 294-300 : 296

3.1. Babesia detection

Of the 461 splenic samples available for DNA extraction and analysis, 22 were PCR positive for B. conradae resulting in an overall prevalence of 4.8%. Eighteen of the 22 qPCR samples positive for B. conradae successfully amplified with conventional PCR at the 18 S gene, and 14 (63.6% of total positive) were successfully sequenced. One of these shared 100% homology with the 18 S fragment of B. conradae (sequence AF158702.1), 8/14 differed by a single nucleotide (99.8% homology), and 1/14 differed by 2 nucleotides (99.5% homology) ( Fig. 1 ). Four of 14 sequenced samples were 100% homologous with Babesia vogeli .

Figures

Fig. 1. Base pair differences in a 70 base pair region of the 18S gene from Babesia conradae DNA sequences isolated from California coyotes (Canis latrans) splenic samples collected between 2015 and 2019 compared to published sequence available in GenBank.