Trypanosomosis or Surra, caused by the flagellated hemoprotozoan parasite Trypanosoma evansi, is a disease of economic importance through its wide prevalence in domestic livestock in tropical countries. In the absence of a protective vaccine, management of the disease relies on a few available chemotherapeutic agents. Although humoral immunity is the mainstay of resistance to T. evansi, the ability of the parasite to vary its immunodominant surface proteins to subvert the immune system has forced vaccine efforts to target a variety of invariant epitopes. Beta tubulin, an integral component of the trypanosome cytoskeleton, was therefore targeted using the recombinant form of the protein for immunization.

Complete mitochondrial genomes are reported for two Isospora species causing systemic coccidiosis in Superb Glossy Starlings (Aves: Sturnidae). The A/T rich (34.7% G/C) genomes were 6223 bp in length for Isospora greineri and 6217 bp for Isospora superbusi. Each encoded 3 protein-coding genes, (COI, COIII and CytB) plus 18 LSU and 14 SSU rDNA fragments. Arrangement of protein- and rRNA-coding regions was identical to known Eimeria sp. mt genomes; start codon usage was conventional. The mitochondrial genome structures of Isospora and Eimeria species are conserved and reflect the close phylogenetic association between these eimeriid genera of apicomplexan parasites.

Cyclosporiasis is an infection caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis, which is acquired by consumption of contaminated fresh food or water. In the United States, cases of cyclosporiasis are often associated with foodborne outbreaks linked to imported fresh produce or travel to disease-endemic countries. Epidemiologic investigation has been the primary method for linking outbreak cases. A molecular typing marker that can identify genetically related samples would be helpful in tracking outbreaks. We evaluated the mitochondrial junction region as a potential genotyping marker. We tested stool samples from 134 laboratory-confirmed cases in the United States by using PCR and Sanger sequencing. All but 2 samples were successfully typed and divided into 14 sequence types. Typing results were identical among samples within each epidemiologically defined case cluster for 7 of 10 clusters. These findings suggest that this marker can distinguish between distinct case clusters and might be helpful during cyclosporiasis outbreak investigations.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Eimeria leuckarti (Eimeriidae, Coccidia, Apicomplexa) was obtained. This morphologically distinctive coccidium is considered to be the only valid Eimeria species of equids and it infects a range of both domestic and wild horses and their relatives. Despite the distinctive appearance of the oocysts of E. leuckarti, the mitochondrial genome organization and gene contents were comparable to other Eimeria spp. and related eimeriid coccidia infecting a range of mammals and birds. The greatly reduced 6242 bp genome is circular-mapping and contains three protein-coding genes (COI, COIII, CytB), 18 fragments encoding the large subunit rRNA (LSU), and 13 fragments encoding the small subunit (SSU) rRNA. No tRNA was encoded similar to other Apicomplexa. A Bayesian inference tree based on aligned CDS and rDNA fragments from Eimeria leuckarti and 34 other coccidia demonstrated that this mt genome has close phylogenetic affinities to Eimeria and Isospora species, and related eimeriid coccidia.

Clinical and subclinical coccidiosis is cosmopolitan and inflicts significant losses to the poultry industry globally. Seven named Eimeria species are responsible for coccidiosis in turkeys: Eimeria dispersa; Eimeria meleagrimitis; Eimeria gallopavonis; Eimeria meleagridis; Eimeria adenoeides; Eimeria innocua; and, Eimeria subrotunda. Although attempts have been made to characterize these parasites molecularly at the nuclear 18S rDNA and ITS loci, the maternally-derived and mitotically replicating mitochondrial genome may be more suited for species level molecular work; however, only limited sequence data are available for Eimeria spp. infecting turkeys. The purpose of this study was to sequence and annotate the complete mitochondrial genomes from 5 Eimeria species that commonly infect the domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).