Abstract
Eimeria species parasites can cause the enteric disease coccidiosis. Seven Eimeria species are recognized to infect chickens, although understanding of their regional occurrence, abundance and population structure remains limited. Reports of Eimeria circulating in chickens across much of the southern hemisphere with cryptic genotypes and the capacity to escape current anticoccidial vaccines have revealed unexpected levels of complexity. Consequently, it is important to supplement validated species-specific molecular diagnostics with new genus-level tools. Here, we propose to explore genetic structure and diversity in parasite field populations and develop novel NGS-based tools for antigen-specific, single parasite and whole-population analyses.
References
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