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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Animal Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #373561
Research Project: Development of Detection and Control Strategies for Bovine Babesiosis and Equine Piroplasmosis

Location: Animal Disease Research

Title: Innovative alternatives for continuous in vitro culture of Babesia bigemina in medium free of components of animal origin

Author
item ÁLVAREZ MARTÍNEZA, JESÚS - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP)
item FIGUEROA MILLÁN, JULIO - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP)
item Ueti, Massaro
item ROJAS-MARTÍNEZ, CARMEN - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP)

Submitted to: Pathogens
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/29/2020
Publication Date: 5/1/2020
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/6973057
Citation: Álvarez Martíneza, J.A., Figueroa Millán, J.V., Ueti, M.W., Rojas-Martínez, C. 2020. Innovative alternatives for continuous in vitro culture of Babesia bigemina in medium free of components of animal origin. Pathogens. 9(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9050343.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9050343

Interpretive Summary: Bovine babesiosis is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions and a large portion of cattle populations live in endemic areas. Animals that survive acute infection remain infected for life and serve as reservoirs for tick transmission. In this study, we describe Babesia bigemina proliferation in culture medium free of components of animal origin supplemented with a lipid mixture. Parasites continuously proliferated in VP-SFM with a higher percent parasitized erythrocyte as compare to using other animal components-free culture media. Supplementation of VP-SF with a lipid acid mixture improved parasite proliferation. Growth of Babesia in a perfusion bioreactor resulted in increased of numbers of parasites. The in vitro culture method presented in this study is an important source of biological material to develop control strategy for bovine babesiosis caused by B. bigemina.

Technical Abstract: In this study, we report Babesia bigemina proliferation in culture medium free of components of animal origin supplemented with a lipid mixture. Babesia bigemina continuously proliferated in VP-SFM with a higher percent parasitized erythrocyte as compare to using other animal components-free culture media. Compared with ADMEM/F12, VP-SFM had a similar percent parasitized erythrocyte. Supplementation of VP-SF with a lipid acid mixture improved B. bigemina in vitro culture proliferation, with a maximum parasitemia of 11.3%. Growth of B. bigemina in a perfusion bioreactor using VP-SFM medium supplemented with a lipid mixture resulted in a parasitemia above 28%. In conclusion, we demonstrated that B. bigemina proliferated in an animal component free medium supplemented with a fatty acid mixture. This innovation to B. bigemina in vitro culture method presented herein is an important source of biological material for live vaccine production and understanding the mechanisms and molecules involved in parasite attachment and invasion of bovine erythrocytes.