Quantitative detection of Theileria haneyi in South African horses

dc.contributor.advisorBhoora, Raksha V.
dc.contributor.coadvisorNicola, Collins E.
dc.contributor.emailu21700339@tuks.co.zaen_US
dc.contributor.postgraduateMbaba, Tshenolo Vincentia
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-05T08:04:14Z
dc.date.available2024-02-05T08:04:14Z
dc.date.created2024-04
dc.date.issued2023-12-01
dc.descriptionDissertation (MSc (Veterinary Tropical Diseases))--University of Pretoria, 2023.en_US
dc.description.abstractTheileria haneyi is an apicomplexan parasite that is closely related to Theileria equi, a known causative agent of equine piroplasmosis. Theileria equi genotypes A, B, C, and D have been reported to occur in South African equids. Preliminary studies in South Africa indicated an association between T. equi genotype C and T. haneyi infections. The molecular distinction between these parasites is reliant on a nested PCR assay, which has been reported to be unreliable. A recently reported indirect ELISA based on the equi merozoite antigen (ThEMA-11) of T. haneyi can detect geographically diverse T. haneyi strains. Based on the exclusivity of the ema-11 gene to T. haneyi, we developed a TaqMan minor groove binder (MGB™) quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay to amplify and detect the ema-11 gene. Published Thema-11 gene sequences were used to design primers for the amplification of the ema-11 gene from South African samples. Thema-11 amplicons were cloned and sequenced. An alignment of the South African ema-11 gene sequences with published sequences enabled the identification of a conserved region for the design of the qPCR assay. The T. haneyi ema-11 (Thema-11) qPCR assay was shown to be rapid, specific, and sensitive in detecting T. haneyi infections. The diagnostic utility of the Thema-11-specific qPCR assay was evaluated together with a T. equi ema-1-specific qPCR assay. Theileria haneyi was detected in 75% of the South African field samples screened, while the occurrence of T. equi based on the quantitative amplification of the ema-1 gene was much higher (100%). These results suggest that used in combination, the Thema-11-specific qPCR assay, and the T. equi ema-1-specific qPCR assay could detect and differentiate between T. haneyi and T. equi infections.en_US
dc.description.availabilityUnrestricteden_US
dc.description.degreeMSc (Veterinary Tropical Diseases)en_US
dc.description.departmentVeterinary Tropical Diseasesen_US
dc.description.facultyFaculty of Veterinary Scienceen_US
dc.description.sdgSDG-03: Good health and well-beingen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant number: 129240)en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipAgricultural Sector Education Training Authority, and the Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation through its Framework Agreement with the Institute for Tropical Medicine (FA4 DGD-ITM 2017-2021)en_US
dc.identifier.citation*en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.25403/UPresearchdata.25039124en_US
dc.identifier.otherA2024en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/94276
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Pretoria
dc.rights© 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
dc.subjectUCTDen_US
dc.subjectTheileria haneyien_US
dc.subjectEquine piroplasmosisen_US
dc.subjectField samplesen_US
dc.subjectQuantitative real-time PCRen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.subject.otherSDG-03: Good health and well-being
dc.subject.otherVeterinary science theses SDG-03
dc.titleQuantitative detection of Theileria haneyi in South African horsesen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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