A comparative in silico linear B-cell epitope prediction and characterization for South American and African Trypanosoma vivax strains

Abstract Trypanosoma vivax is a parasite widespread across Africa and South America. Immunological methods using recombinant antigens have been developed aiming at specific and sensitive detection of infections caused by T. vivax . Here, we sequenced for the first time the transcriptome of a virulent T. vivax strain (Lins), isolated from an outbreak of severe disease in South America (Brazil) and performed a computational integrated analysis of genome, transcriptome and in silico predictions to identify and characterize putative linear B-cell epitopes from African and South American T. vivax . A total of 2278, 3936 and 4062 linear B-cell epitopes were respectively characterized for the transcriptomes of T. vivax LIEM-176 (Venezuela), T. vivax IL1392 (Nigeria) and T. vivax Lins (Brazil) and 4684 for the genome of T. vivax Y486 (Nigeria). The results presented are a valuable theoretical source that may pave the way for highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tools.