| molecular identification and characterization of piroplasm species in hokkaido sika deer (cervus nippon yesoensis), japan. | babesia and theileria species are tick-borne protozoan parasites that have a veterinary and zoonotic importance. in order to investigate the prevalence and genetic diversity of these parasites, a total of 269 sika deer blood dna samples collected from hokkaido, japan, were examined for babesia and theileria species by touch-down pcr targeting the 18s rrna gene. reverse line blot (rlb) hybridization was then used to detect 12 piroplasm species. the results revealed that 95.5% (257/269), 94.1% (25 ... | 2017 | 28651947 |