Detection of Theileria species infecting equine population in Punjab by 18S rRNA PCR

Present study demonstrates the prevalence and risk factors of infection to equines with Theileria species in Punjab, (India). The prevalence by thin blood film examination and Polymerase chain reactions based molecular assay was 4.17 and 33.33%, respectively. PCR targeting 18S rRNA gene of Theileria sp. produced high fidelity 1, 100 bp amplification products with 100% sensitivity to blood films. The assessment of various risk factors revealed the prevalence of Theileria sp. to be uniformly distributed in equine population; the age of host animal being apparently the most influential factor for infection (Odds ratio= 1.6154, P= 0.41). The multiple sequence alignment revealed that the primer pair used could perceive the presence of wide range of species of Theileria genus; however the phylogenetic analysis of the custom sequenced amplicons clustered in one node with diverse Theileria equi isolates indicating the evolutionary homology.