Publikationsdatenbank

Molecular pathology, taxonomy and epidemiology of Besnoitia species (Protozoa: Sarcocystidae) (2011)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Olias, Philipp

Schade, Benjamin

Mehlhorn, Heinz

Quelle

Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases ; MEEGID

Bandzählung: 11

Heftzählung: 7

Seiten: 1564 – 1576

ISSN: 1567-1348

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2011.08.006

Pubmed: 21906696

Kontakt

Institut für Tierpathologie

Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 15
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 62450
pathologie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

Until recently, besnoitiosis has been a neglected disease of domestic animals. Now, a geographic expansion of the causing protozoan parasite Besnoitia besnoiti in livestock has been recognized and the disease in cattle is considered emerging in Europe. Bovine besnoitiosis leads to significant economic losses by a decline in milk production, sterility, transient or permanent infertility of bulls, skin lesions and increase of mortality in affected cattle population. Phylogenetically, the Besnoitia genus is closest related to the well studied and medically important protozoans, Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum. In contrast, discriminative molecular markers to type and subtype large mammalian Besnoitia species (B. besnoiti, B. caprae, B. tarandi, B. bennetti) on a relevant level of species and strains are lacking. Similarly, these cyst-forming parasites may use two hosts to fulfill their life cycle, but this has not been proven for all large mammalian Besnoitia species yet. Most important though, the final hosts and transmission routes of these Besnoitia species remain mysterious. Here, we review aspects of parasite's pathology, speciation, phylogeny, epidemiology and transmission with a special focus on recent molecular studies of all to date known Besnoitia species. Using an integrated approach, we have tried to highlight some promising directions for future research.