Evaluation of a DNA-based probe for the detection of cattle experimentally infected with Babesia bigemina

A digoxigenin-labeled probe was used for hybridization to various preparations of Babesia bigemina-infected erythrocyte extracts. Dot blot hybridization and immunological detection of DNA hybrids revealed that the probe was specific for B. bigemina DNA because it did not hybridize to the DNA of B. bovis, a closely related species. Studies of sensitivity showed that the probe would bind to as little as 1 ng of B. bigemina DNA, but not to 1 microgram of the B. bovis DNA. The probe reacted with equal intensity against seven B. bigemina isolates from different geographic areas. The lowest percentage of B. bigemina-infected erythrocytes detected was 0.001%, a level of parasitemia not usually detected with the light microscope. Six intact, mixed-breed steers, approximately 3 years old, were inoculated with a blood stabilate containing B. bigemina-infected erythrocytes. Blood samples collected from day -1 to day 86 postinoculation (PI) and prepared for DNA extraction were analyzed in a dot blot hybridization assay using a nonradioactive DNA probe. Hybridization reaction (HR) signals were compared to results obtained by light microscopy (LM) examination of Giemsa-stained blood smears and to antibody titers of serum samples assayed with the complement fixation test (CFT) and indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). Four of six inoculated steers became infected with B. bigemina as assessed by LM. The parasitemias were low (less than 0.01-0.05) at day 10 PI. Only three steers were serologically positive by CFT (titer 1:40-1:160) and IFAT (1:1280). All four infected steers had positive HR signals in the dot blot assay. The HR signals were observed from day 10 to day 77 PI and were usually correlated with the presence of parasites in blood as observed by LM. The HR signals varied in intensity for different blood samples from the experimental animals and with day of blood sample collection. Although the signal intensity did not correlate with the parasitemia level estimated by LM, the nucleic acid hybridization assay was more sensitive than LM, CFT, or IFAT for the detection of B. bigemina-infected cattle.