Phylogenetic relationships of the benign Theileria species in cattle and Asian buffalo based on the major piroplasm surface protein (p33/34) gene sequences.

In order to examine the taxonomic relationship of Theileria sp. of Asian buffalo to the benign Theileria spp. of cattle, we sequenced and compared the major piroplasm protein (p33/34) genes of these parasites. The two consensus sequences determined for the buffalo parasite were of the same length (852 bp) and showed >80% identity with the sequences of the homologous genes (849 bp) in the cattle parasites. Alignment of the inferred aa sequences with those of Theileria sergenti and Theileria buffeli predicted that there is an insertion of a single residue at the N-terminus in the inferred polypeptide of the buffalo parasite. Phylogenetic analyses based on the aa sequences suggested that Theileria sp. of the Asian buffalo should be classified within the benign Theileria parasite group as a separate species from the cattle parasites. Based on this, we propose a rearrangement of the currently used classification for the benign Theileria species in cattle and Asian buffalo.