Intra and inter species genetic variability of transferrin receptor gene regions in Trypanosoma evansi isolates of different livestock and geographical regions of India

Trypanosoma evansi, the aetiological agent of Surra affects a wide range of livestock and wild animals in India. In the present study, we studied intra- and inter species genetic variability in the transferrin receptor encoding gene regions (ESAG6/7 gene region) of T. evansi isolates by cloning, sequencing and phylogenetic study collected from camel, cattle, donkeys and ponies from North-Western and Central India. The nucleotide sequence variation of ESAG6/7 gene region between Indian T. evansi isolates was up to 17.7% and amino acid sequence variation was up to 31%. Twenty nine clones from six T. evansi isolates from geographical regions of India were included into Clade 1, 5, 6, 7 and 9 consisting of ESAG6 variants reported among T. evansi isolates from South-east Asia and South America. The cladogram indicated a relation between the host species and the genetic variability in the hyper-variable region of ESAG6 gene. Analysis of the Indian ESAG6 variants and their respective Clade positions presented a host specific distribution indicating homogenous parasite population in their respective animal hosts.