The 59 candidate diagnostic proteins screened independently with individual (non-pooled) sera.

Note: Tc00 numbers indicate closest homologue(s) present in the T. cruzi CL Brener sequence database (TcruziDb.org) based upon sequencing of the genes (for top 16) or predicted based upon primer sequences used in cloning. Because some primers for PCR cloning were designed prior to the release of the T. cruzi CL Brener sequence (25) and the cloning involved the pooling of multiple clone derived from the PCR of a mixture of T. cruzi strains (see Material and Methods), some proteins were derived from mixtures of genes (e.g. numbers 1 and 16) and/or had a percent sequence identity <100% relative to the CL Brener strain (range 94.7 to 100%). In some cases (e.g. # 5 and 9) genes>2 kb in length were cloned in ∼2 kb fragments in order to facilitate cloning and protein production. Items listed in bold type were selected for screening using >100 individual sera. Items underlined were selected to be part of the final 16 set bead array for screening of discordant sera or sera from subjects post-treatment with benznidazole.