A Transfected Babesia bovis Parasite Line Expressing eGFP Is Able to Complete the Full Life Cycle of the Parasite in Mammalian and Tick Hosts

Bovine babesiosis is caused by apicomplexan pathogens of the genus Babesia, including B. bovis. This protozoan parasite has a complex life cycle involving dynamic changes to its transcriptome during the transition between the invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. Studying the role of genes upregulated by tick stage parasites has been hindered by the lack of appropriate tools to study parasite gene products in the invertebrate host. Herein, we present tfBbo5480, a transfected B. bovis cell line, constitutively expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) created by a whole gene replacement transfection strategy, that was capable of completing the parasite’s entire life cycle in both the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. tfBbo5480 was demonstrated to respond to in vitro sexual stage induction and upon acquisition by the female tick vector, Rhipicephalus microplus, the tick specific kinete stage of tfBbo5480 was detected in tick hemolymph. Larvae from tfBbo5480 exposed R. microplus female ticks successfully transmitted the transfected parasite to a naïve calf. The development of the whole gene replacement strategy will permit a deeper understanding of the biology of parasite-host-vector triad interactions and facilitate the evaluation of upregulated genes during the parasite’s journey through the tick vector leading to new intervention strategies for the control of bovine babesiosis.