cryopreserved culture vial was obtained from the liquid nitrogen tank, and thawed quickly at 37°C in a water bath. To the vial, O.lv of 12% NaCl was addeq I slowly, dropwise, while shaking the tube gently. Subsequently, 10v of 1.6% NaCl I was added slowly, dropwise while swirling the tube, followed by centrifugation at 200 g at 20°C for 5 min. The supernatant was discarded and 10v of RPMI 1640 complete media was added, followed by centrifugation at 200 g at 20°C for 5 min.' After removal of the supernatant, pelleted parasites were resuspended in complete I media at 0.5% hematocrit. Cultures were gassed with 5% C02, 3% 02, and 92%' N2 and maintained at 37°C

DNA restriction enzymes were purchased from New England Biolabs (Massachusetts, USA) and Life Technologies (Maryland, USA). Lysozyme and RNase A were obtained from Sigma. RNase Tl, DNA ligase, RNA polymerase, Taq DNA polymerase, lKb DNA ladder and prestained molecular weight markers for· proteins were obtained from Life Technologies (Maryland, USA). Other protein molecular weight markers were from Sigma chemical co. T4 polynucleotide kinase were purchased from Promega. T7 DNA polymerase was obtained from USB.

Restriction endonucleases, T 4 DNA 1 igase, DNA polymerase I large fragment Klenow ) , bacterial alkaline phosphatase BAP were from BRL, USA and New England Biolabs, USA. Lysozyme and RNase A were from Sigma. Thermus aquaticus thermostable DNA polymerase was kindly provided by Cetus Corporation, California, USA.

32P-a-rUTP (3000Ci/mmol) was obtained from Perkin Elmer (California, USA).

Nutrient agar (NA) medium The composition per litre of the medium is as follows: Peptone : 5.00 g Sodium chloride : 8.00 g Beef extract : 1.50 g Yeast extract : 1.50 g Agar-agar : 20.0 g Double distilled water : to make the final volume 1000 ml (iii) Tannic acid agar (TAA) medium This medium was used for screening of tannase producers. The composition per litre of the medium is as follows: Tannic acid : 10.00 g Agar-agar : 30.00 g Citrate phosphate buffer : to make the final volume 1000 ml (0.1M, pH 5.0) 30.0 g of agar-agar was melted and subsequently autoclaved. Citrate phosphate buffer and 0.1% (w/v)tannic acid, filter sterilized through 0.22μmembrane filters, were added to the sterilized molten agar and the final volume was made 1.0 L. (IV) Czapek Dox minimal medium (modified for tannase production)The composition per litre of the medium is as follows: Ingredients Fungi Bacteria Tannic acid : 10.00 g 10.00 g D-Glucose : 10.00 g 0.50 g NaNO3 : 6.00 g – NH4Cl : – 1.0 g KH2PO4 : 1.52 g 0.50 g K2HPO4 : – 0.50 g KCl : 0.52 g – MgSO4.7H2O : 0.52 g 0.50 g CaCl2 : – 0.01 g Cu(NO3)2.3H2O : trace – FeSO4.7H2O : trace – ZnSO4.7H2O : trace – Double Distilled water : to make 1.0 L to make 1.0 L pH : 5.0±0.2 5.0±0.

Potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium The composition per litre of the medium is as follows: Ingredients g/l Peeled and sliced potatoes : 200.0 Dextrose : 20.0 Agar-agar : 20.0 Double Distilled water : to make the final volume 1000 ml pH was adjusted to 6.2 ± 0.2 using 1N NaOH / HCl

Z broth (for P1 transduction) LB medium 100 ml 0.5 M CaCl20.5 ml Buffered LBagarTryptone 10.0 gYeast extract 5.0 gMin A salts1XBacto-agar15.0 gH2O to 1000 ml Buffered Yeast extract agarYeastExtract 5.0 gMin A salts 1X Bacto-agar15.0 gH2O to 1000 ml Yeast extract brothYeast Extract 5.0 g NaCl 10.0 g Bacto-agar15.0 g

Z broth (for P1 transduction) LB medium 100 ml 0.5 M CaCl20.5 ml Buffered LBagarTryptone 10.0 gYeast extract 5.0 gMin A salts1XBacto-agar15.0 gH2O to 1000 ml Buffered Yeast extract agarYeastExtract 5.0 gMin A salts 1X Bacto-agar15.0 gH2O to 1000 ml Yeast extract brothYeast Extract 5.0 g NaCl 10.0 g Bacto-agar15.0 g

LB mediumTryptone 10.0 g Yeast Extract 5.0 g NaCl 10.0 g H2O to 1000 ml pH was adjusted to 7.0 –7.2 with 1 N NaOH.LB agar LB medium 1000 ml Bacto-agar 15.0g LB soft agar LB medium 100 ml Bacto-agar 0.6 g

H2O to 1000 ml LBON medium (LB medium without NaCl) Tryptone 10.0 g Yeast Extract 5.0g H2O to 1000 ml pH was adjusted to 7.0-7.2 with 1N NaOH. LBON agar LBON medium 1000 ml Bacto-agar 15.0gMacConkey Agar MacConkey agar (Difco) 51.5 g H2O to 1000 ml

LB mediumTryptone 10.0 g Yeast Extract 5.0 g NaCl 10.0 g H2O to 1000 ml pH was adjusted to 7.0 –7.2 with 1 N NaOH.LB agar LB medium 1000 ml Bacto-agar 15.0g LB soft agar LB medium 100 ml Bacto-agar 0.6 gZ broth (for P1 transduction) LB medium 100 ml 0.5 M CaCl20.5 ml Buffered LBagarTryptone 10.0 gYeast extract 5.0 gMin A salts1XBacto-agar15.0 gH2O to 1000 ml Buffered Yeast extract agarYeastExtract 5.0 gMin A salts 1X Bacto-agar15.0 gH2O to 1000 ml Yeast extract brothYeast Extract 5.0 g NaCl 10.0 g Bacto-agar15.0 g

All media and buffers were sterilized by autoclaving at 121ºC for 15 minutes. Media and buffers used in this study are given below: Glucose Minimal A medium Minimal A salts(1X)K2HPO410.5g KH2PO44.5g (NH4)2SO41.0g CH3COONa.2H2O 0.5g H20 to 1000 ml After autoclaving the following solutions were addedto Min A salts: MgSO4(1M)1 ml Glucose (20%) 10 ml Vitamin B1 (1%) 0.1 ml Amino acids when required were added to a final concentration of 40 μg/ml or casaminoacids were added at a concentration of 0.2% whenever needed.Minimal A agar It contains 1.5% bacto-agar (Difco) in Minimal A medium. The plates were poured after mixing double strength Minimal A with 3% agar.M9 minimal medium(1X)Na2HPO4•7H2O7.0 gKH2PO43.0 gNaCl0.5gNH4Cl1.0 gH20to 1000 mlSterilize the solution by autoclaving.Glucose-M9 minimal medium was madein asimilarwayto that of Glucose Minimal A medium