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The host-specificity of Theileria sp. (sable) and Theileria sp. (sable-like) in African Bovidae and detection of novel Theileria in antelope and giraffe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2019

Ronel Pienaar ,
Antoinette Josemans ,
Abdalla A. Latif  and
Ben J. Mans Open the ORCID record for Ben J. Mans [Opens in a new window]
Ronel Pienaar
Affiliation:
Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
Antoinette Josemans
Affiliation:
Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
Abdalla A. Latif
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, Westville, South Africa
Ben J. Mans*
Affiliation:
Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa The Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
*
Author for correspondence: Ben J. Mans, E-mail: mansb@arc.agric.za
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Abstract

Tick-borne diseases caused by Theileria are of economic importance in domestic and wildlife ruminants. The majority of Theileria infects a limited number of host species, supporting the concept of host specificity. However, some Theileria seem to be generalists challenging the host specificity paradigm, such as Theileria sp. (sable) reported from various vertebrate hosts, including African buffalo, cattle, dogs and different antelope species. We tested the hypothesis that T. sp. (sable) uses Bovidae as hosts in general using a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay specific for T. sp. (sable) and a closely related genotype: T. sp. (sable-like). Various antelope species from the Tragelaphini (black wildebeest, blesbuck, blue wildebeest, gemsbuck, sable and waterbuck) tested positive for either T. sp. (sable) or T. sp. (sable-like). However, no African buffalo (n = 238) or cattle (n = 428) sampled in the current study tested positive, suggesting that these latter species are not carrier hosts. The results were confirmed using next-generation sequencing which also indicated at least 13 new genotypes or species found in various antelope and giraffes. Genotypes were found in single host species or in evolutionarily related hosts, suggesting that host specificity in Theileria may be a lineage specific phenomenon likely associated with tick-host-parasite co-evolution.

Keywords

Bovidaenext-generation sequencingreal-time PCRTheileria sp. (sable)Theileria sp. (sable-like)
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 147 , Issue 2 , February 2020 , pp. 213 - 224
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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