Studies on Mechanisms of Tolerance to Theileria Parva in Boran Cattle in Kenya.

Abstract

Theileria parva is a protozoan parasite transmitted by the brown ear tick causing corridor disease (buffalo derived strain) and East Coast fever (ECF) (cattle derived strain), respectively. Owing to the associated high mortality cases and high costs of treatment and tick control, T. parva infection is considered the most economically important disease and among leading impediments to maximized production-potential of the livestock sector in eastern, central and southern Africa. One potential solution to overcoming these challenges is the use of T. parva tolerant cattle. A few studies have reported tolerance to T. parva among cattle with only two studies describing evidence of this tolerance in a sire line. This thesis reports results of experiments aimed at identifying the mechanisms of tolerance to T. parva in an identified Boran cattle population essentially building upon and complementing the recent evidence of tolerance reported. This novel information explaining cattle tolerance to T. parva is potentially applicable to other diseases affecting both humans and livestock. T. parva shares structural and functional similarities with other apicomplexan parasites, such as Plasmodium and Toxoplasma. It also relates to cancer research, as T. parva-infected cells exhibit characteristics like immortalization, exponential division, and metastasis. Using diverse assays and techniques, this study investigated specific objectives to describe mechanisms of tolerance in selected T. parva tolerant and T. parva susceptible Boran cattle. First was to identify and describe differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tolerant and susceptible Boran cattle over the course of an infection. Using ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing and transcriptomic analysis on white blood cells collected from cattle pre and 7 and 15 days post..............................................