"Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae" in Ixodes persulcatus ticks collected in Russia

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Jun:990:162-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2003.tb07358.x.

Abstract

We collected 209 Ixodes persulcatus ticks in various regions of Russia, including the southern Urals and western and eastern Siberia. Using PCR amplification and sequencing of the citrate synthase-encoding gene (gltA), we detected a new rickettsial genotype, which we named "Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae." This bacterium was found in 9.27%, 10.0%, and 20.5% of the ticks collected in western Siberia, eastern Siberia, and the southern Urals, respectively. "Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae" exhibited a 98% and 96% nucleotide sequence homology, with the 16S rDNA and gltA sequence, respectively, of R. canadensis, a rickettsia previously only found in Haemaphysalis leporispalustris ticks in North America. The phylogenetic analysis of "Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae" and other Rickettsia species allowed the creation of a new cluster with high bootstrap values within the Rickettsia genus involving this rickettsia, R. canadensis, and three uncultured rickettsiae from plant insects.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Citrate (si)-Synthase / genetics
  • DNA Primers
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • DNA, Ribosomal / genetics
  • Genotype
  • Geography
  • Ixodes / microbiology*
  • Phylogeny
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Rickettsia / classification
  • Rickettsia / genetics
  • Rickettsia / isolation & purification*
  • Russia
  • Siberia

Substances

  • DNA Primers
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • DNA, Ribosomal
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • Citrate (si)-Synthase