Molecular confirmation of the first autochthonous case of human babesiosis in Australia using a novel primer set for the beta-tubulin gene

Abstract

In 2012, the first autochthonous Australian case of human babesiosis was reported, after microscopic examinations of blood samples revealed intra-erythrocytic parasites in a hospitalized 56. year-old man from NSW, who died in 2011 (Senanayake et al., 2012). Independent molecular analyses carried out in Australia and the USA, identified Babesia microti at the 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA), and the beta-tubulin (β-tubulin) gene loci. Here we present the details of a novel PCR-based assay for the β-tubulin gene that was developed, during the original study, to corroborate the results obtained from the analysis of the 18S rDNA. The complete phylogenetic reconstruction, based on the two loci sequenced from the Australian clinical isolate, is also shown here for the first time.