Development of cross-protective Eimeria-vectored vaccines based on apical membrane antigens.

Recently, the availability of protocols supporting genetic complementation of Eimeria has raised the prospect of generating transgenic parasite lines which can function as vaccine vectors, expressing and delivering heterologous proteins. Complementation with sequences encoding immunoprotective antigens from other Eimeria spp. offers an opportunity to reduce the complexity of species/strains in anticoccidial vaccines.

The role of sialyl glycan recognition in host tissue tropism of the avian parasite Eimeria tenella.

Eimeria spp. are a highly successful group of intracellular protozoan parasites that develop within intestinal epithelial cells of poultry, causing coccidiosis. As a result of resistance against anticoccidial drugs and the expense of manufacturing live vaccines, it is necessary to understand the relationship between Eimeria and its host more deeply, with a view to developing recombinant vaccines.

A toolbox facilitating stable transfection of Eimeria species.

Stable transfection of Eimeria species has been difficult to achieve because of the obligate requirement for in vivo amplification and selection of the parasites. Strategies to generate and stabilise populations of transfected Eimeria tenella are described here, together with the identification of optimal parameters for the transfection process. A series of plasmids expressing selectable markers, including a panel of fluorescent reporter genes and a mutant Toxoplasma gondii dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TSm2m3) gene that confers resistance to pyrimethamine, were electroporated into sporozoites of the E.

MORN1 has a conserved role in asexual and sexual development across the apicomplexa.

The gene encoding the membrane occupation and recognition nexus protein MORN1 is conserved across the Apicomplexa. In Toxoplasma gondii, MORN1 is associated with the spindle poles, the anterior and posterior rings of the inner membrane complex (IMC). The present study examines the localization of MORN1 during the coccidian development of T.