The first event in the infection process of Ostertagia ostertagi in cattle is the process of exsheathment. Before trichostrongylid nematodes can transition from a free-living infective stage larva (L<sub>3</sub>) on pasture to a parasitic existence within the ruminant host, it must first undergo exsheathment. Exsheathment is the process whereby the L<sub>2</sub> cuticle retained from the previous molt is cast from the L<sub>3</sub>. Exsheathment enables the developmental transition from a free-living stage on pasture to a parasitic existence in the bovine host. For those species with a predilection site in the abomasum, such as O. ostertagi, exsheathment is initiated as the larvae pass through the rumen. Although the stimulus for exsheathment is not known, previously reported biochemical studies on exsheathment suggest the role of a carbonic anhydrase (CA). Partial support for this hypothesis comes from the reported failure of the Haemonchus contortus L<sub>3</sub> to exsheath following pretreatment with ethoxzolamide, a known inhibitor of CA's. Although convincing, a CA has not been previously reported from a trichostrongylid nematode. Therefore, the objective of this work was to isolate a CA gene from O. ostertagi L<sub>3</sub> and subsequently quantitatively measure its expression during in vivo exsheathment of O. ostertagi L<sub>3</sub>. This work resulted in the successful isolation, cloning and sequencing of a gene that showed 90.5 % sequence identity with the CA eukaryotic consensus sequence and was 78% and 55% similar to the Caenorhabiditis elegans cah-6 and human CAIII isozyme, respectively. This is the first CA isolated from a gastrointestinal nematode parasite. The enzyme was consequently named OoCAIII. The expression pattern of OoCAIII in O. ostertagi L<sub>3</sub> suggests this particular CA is not responsible for initiating exsheathment, but perhaps has a role in immediate early developmental events following initiation of exsheathment. Analysis of the first 1,758 bases of the proximal and distal promoter regions of the gene suggested OoCAIII is regulated in part by transcription factors associated with hypoxic signaling and development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-05222004-002142 |
| Date | 26 May 2004 |
| Creators | DeRosa, Andrew Allan |
| Contributors | Richard K Cooper, Thomas R Klei, Fredrick M Enright, James C. Williams, John Battista |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-05222004-002142/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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