Molecular identification and control of apicomplexan parasites

许多顶复体寄生虫（如疟疾、弓形虫和球虫）具有严重的兽医、农业和医学重要性。艾美耳球虫对商业家禽（尤其是鸡）的盈利性饲养构成持续而严峻的挑战。在加拿大，球虫病的药物费用和生产损失每年使家禽业损失1亿美元。针对球虫的活疫苗是可能的，但由于许多艾美耳球虫种类的免疫不同菌株而复杂化。我们有彼此相似的不同的最大E.菌株，但它们不会交叉免疫鸟类（尽管它们相似，但它们不能抵御第二种菌株的攻击）。这些最大大肠杆菌菌株之间存在的少数差异必须是保护性免疫反应的重要目标。我们已经确定了易受控制的寄生虫的发展窗口期。我们建议在寄生虫产生免疫相关分子时，利用这些寄生虫的转录组分析对这两种寄生虫菌株进行非常详细的分子解剖。我们将检查发现的任何免疫学相关性差异，并在确定可能的候选分子后，检查候选疫苗（由非致病性沙门氏菌/芽孢杆菌种携带的活疫苗或通过基于质粒的DNA疫苗接种）。这项令人兴奋的工作是对这些经济和医学上重要的寄生虫与其脊椎动物宿主之间存在的相互作用的长期研究的高潮。

Many of apicomplexan parasites (such as malaria, Toxoplasma and coccidia) are of serious veterinary, agricultural and medical importance. Eimeria are continuing and serious challenges to profitable rearing of commercial poultry (especially chickens). Medication costs and production losses from coccidiosis cost the poultry industry several $100 million each year in Canada. Live vaccines against coccidia are possible but are complicated by immunologically distinct strains of many Eimeria species. We have distinct lines of E. maxima that are similar to one another but do not cross-immunize birds (they do not protect against challenge with the second strain despite their similarity). The few differences that exist between these E. maxima strains must be important targets of a protective immune response. We have determined the window of development of the parasite that is susceptible to control. We propose to conduct a highly detailed molecular dissection of these two parasite strains using transcriptome analysis of these parasites during the time when immunologically relevant molecules are being produced by the parasites. We will examine any differences found for immunological relevance and, when the possible candidate molecules have been identified, vaccination candidates (live vaccines carried by non-pathogenic Salmonella/Bacillus species or via plasmid-based DNA vaccination). This exciting work is the culmination of a long period of research into the interactions that exist between these economically and medically important parasites and their vertebrate hosts.