<i>Babesia microti</i> Immunoreactive Rhoptry-Associated Protein-1 Paralogs Are Ancestral Members of the Piroplasmid-Confined RAP-1 Family
<i>Babesia</i>, <i>Cytauxzoon</i> and <i>Theileria</i> are tick-borne apicomplexan parasites of the order Piroplasmida, responsible for diseases in humans and animals. Members of the piroplasmid rhoptry-associated protein-1 (pRAP-1) family have a signature cystein...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/ed63503e46424a4eb897d5dc6b37d537 |
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| Sumario: | <i>Babesia</i>, <i>Cytauxzoon</i> and <i>Theileria</i> are tick-borne apicomplexan parasites of the order Piroplasmida, responsible for diseases in humans and animals. Members of the piroplasmid rhoptry-associated protein-1 (pRAP-1) family have a signature cysteine-rich domain and are important for parasite development. We propose that the closely linked <i>B. microti</i> genes annotated as BMR1_03g00947 and BMR1_03g00960 encode two paralogue pRAP-1-like proteins named BmIPA48 and Bm960. The two genes are tandemly arranged head to tail, highly expressed in blood stage parasites, syntenic to <i>rap-1</i> genes of other piroplasmids, and share large portions of an almost identical ~225 bp sequence located in their 5′ putative regulatory regions. BmIPA48 and Bm960 proteins contain a N-terminal signal peptide, share very low sequence identity (<13%) with pRAP-1 from other species, and harbor one or more transmembrane domains. Diversification of the piroplasmid-confined <i>prap-1</i> family is characterized by amplification of genes, protein domains, and a high sequence polymorphism. This suggests a functional involvement of pRAP-1 at the parasite-host interface, possibly in parasite adhesion, attachment, and/or evasion of the host immune defenses. Both BmIPA48 and Bm960 are recognized by antibodies in sera from humans infected with <i>B. microti</i> and might be promising candidates for developing novel serodiagnosis and vaccines. |
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