Comparative analysis of Tritrichomonas foetus genomes from cattle, cat and pig

Tritrichomonas foetus is a protozoan parasite causing tritrochomonosis in different host species.This obligate parasite colonizes the reproductive tract in cattle as well as the gastrointestinal tract of cats. Bovine trichomonosis is a sexually transmitted disease and T.foetus trophozoites infect mucosal surfaces of the reproductive tract leading to vaginitis, cervicitis, endometritis, and even early abortions. Trichomonosis in cats is supposed to be transmitted via the fecal-oral route and causes chronic large bowel diarrhoea. Furthermore, T. foetus is known as an essentially apathogenic commensal located in the nasal cavity of pigs. Experimental cross-infections of T. foetus in different species showed that porcine T. foetus isolates are able to cause disease in cattle. Similarly, the feline and bovine isolates were shown to cause at least mild symptoms in their reciprocal hosts. Although the natural route of cross-infections remains enigmatic transmission of T. foetus between the different hosts has to be considered a realistic scenario that may have important implications on the epidemiology of the disease. So far, T. foetus was characterized with only very few genetic markers and respective studies showed small, but consistently detectable, genetic differences between the bovine and feline isolates, suggesting the presence of at least two host-adapted genotypes of the parasite. Next generation genome sequencing approach is to assess the genetic differences between bovine, feline, and porcine T. foetus isolates. Respective results are expected to provide novel genetic markers for future molecular epidemiological studies aimed at the elucidation of the transmission patterns of T. foetus within different host species. Furthermore, our comparative genome sequencing approach may definitely answer the question if bovine, feline, and porcine T. foetus isolates are in fact near-identical genotypes of one species or if they exhibit distinct genome compositions (and/or organisation) that suggest their classification in individual species.