Four promising antigens, BgP32, BgP45, BgP47, and BgP50, for serodiagnosis of Babesia gibsoni infection were classified as B. gibsoni merozoite surface protein family

Abstract

We determined the molecular characteristics of four proteins, BgP32, BgP45, BgP47, and BgP50, of Babesia gibsoni. Localization by subcellular fractionations followed by Western blotting revealed that the corresponding native proteins belong to merozoite surface protein family of B. gibsoni (BgMSP). Moreover, antisera against either rBgP45 or rBgP47 cross-reacted with all the proteins of the BgMSP family on ELISA and IFAT analyses. Of the four candidate antigens, ELISA with rBgP45 yielded high sensitivity, and ELISA with rBgP32 resulted in high specificity and in concordance with IFAT results. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.