Extensive production of Neospora caninum tissue cysts in a carnivorous marsupial succumbing to experimental neosporosis.

Experimental infections of Sminthopsis crassicaudata, the fat-tailed dunnart, a carnivorous marsupial widely distributed throughout the arid and semi-arid zones of Australia, show that this species can act as an intermediate host for Neospora caninum. In contrast to existing models that develop relatively few N. caninum tissue cysts, dunnarts offer a new animal model in which active neosporosis is dominated by tissue cyst production.

Microarray analyses of mouse responses to infection by Neospora caninum identifies disease associated cellular pathways in the host response.

Neospora caninum is a coccidian cyst-forming parasite found in a wide range of host species such as mice, dogs and cattle. The development of methods such as vaccines to prevent abortion and fetal loss due to neosporosis would be greatly assisted by further knowledge on immunity and host responses to infection. In this study we used microarray technology to investigate the protective host responses occurring at 6h post infection in the spleen of mice infected with a prototype live N.

Australian dingoes are definitive hosts of Neospora caninum.

To provide objective data on the potential role of dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) in the life cycle of Neospora caninum in Australia, the production of N. caninum oocysts by experimentally infected canids was investigated. Three dingo pups raised in captivity and three domestic dogs were fed tissue from calves infected with an Australian isolate of N.

A second generation multiplex PCR for typing strains of Neospora caninum using six DNA targets.

Genetic diversity of Neospora caninum was investigated through a study of repetitive sequences found in the genome of this species. Twenty different loci were studied, and three were identified that varied in repeat content amongst isolates. No relationship was found between the copy number of repetitive sequences present and host type or geographical location from which the isolates were derived.

Isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from the brain of a dog in Australia and its biological and molecular characterization.

Toxoplasma gondii was isolated from the brain of a young dog for the first time in Australia. The identity of the parasite was confirmed by PCR, Western blotting, electron microscopy and cat bioassay. Genotyping of the isolate (TgDgAu1) was determined by PCR-RFLP markers that showed it to be a Type II strain.

The development and evaluation of a nested PCR assay for detection of Neospora caninum and Hammondia heydorni in feral mouse tissues.

The development of a novel nested polymerase chain reaction is described and used for detecting the presence of Neospora caninum and Hammondia heydorni DNA in DNA extracted from feral rodent tissues. A unique strategy was used for design of an assay that could be adapted for detecting DNA from more than one member of Toxoplasmatinae simultaneously with a minimal number of additional steps. The level of sensitivity described for this assay is comparable to real time-PCR and other nested PCR assays.