Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory
Project Number: 8042-32000-113-010-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 1, 2025
End Date: Dec 31, 2025
Objective:
Develop a robust, rapid, specific, efficient, and user-friendly antibody-based method to separate and enrich Cyclospora oocysts and improve downstream DNA extraction methods.
Approach:
1)Develop immunomagnetic separation (Cyclo-IMS) of Cyclospora oocysts directly
from environmental samples using magnetic beads linked with antibodies against a principal oocyst wall protein (COWP2 and/or TA4 antigen-like surface protein) of C. cayetanensis.
2)Evaluate the value of Cyclo-IMS to concentrate oocysts of C. cayetanensis from environmental samples.
3)Evaluate improvements to DNA isolation by coupling Cyclo-IMS to extraction methods previously optimized on Eimeria surrogates for C. cayetanensis (including freeze-thaw, bead beating, and osmotic shock to lyse oocysts)