Whole genome sequencing of a feline strain of Tritrichomonas foetus reveals massive genetic differences to bovine and porcine isolates.

Whole genome sequencing of a feline strain of Tritrichomonas foetus reveals massive genetic differences to bovine and porcine isolates. Int J Parasitol. 2020 Feb 25;: Authors: Dąbrowska J, Keller I, Karamon J, Kochanowski M, Gottstein B, Cencek T, Frey CF, Müller N Abstract Tritrichomonas foetus is a protozoan parasite that colonizes the reproductive tract of cattle as well as the gastrointestinal tract of cats. Bovine tritrichomonosis is a sexually transmitted disease whereas feline tritrichomonosis is thought to be transmitted by the fecal-oral route. Furthermore, T. foetus is known as an essentially apathogenic commensal located in the nasal cavity of pigs. Transmission of T. foetus between the different hosts has to be considered a realistic scenario that may have important implications for the epidemiology of infections and disease. In our study, we generated whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from bovine, feline and porcine T. foetus strains to investigate the genetic (dis)similarities among these diverse strains. As a reference, we used a previously released draft assembly from a bovine T. foetus strain K isolated from an infected bull in Brazil. In particular, we identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the insertion-deletion (indel) variations within the genomes of the different strains. Interestingly, only a low degree of polymorphism (68 SNPs and indels) was found between the bovine and the porcine strains i...
Source: International Journal for Parasitology - Category: Parasitology Authors: Tags: Int J Parasitol Source Type: research