AEM
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kikuchi, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Fukatsu, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kikuchi, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Fukatsu, T.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Kikuchi, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Fukatsu, T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2002, p. 999-1004, Vol. 68, No. 2
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.2.999-1004.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Novel Clade of Rickettsia spp. from Leeches

Yoshitomo Kikuchi,1,2 Shinya Sameshima,3 Osamu Kitade,1 Junichi Kojima,1 and Takema Fukatsu2*

Natural History Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito 310-8512,1 Department of Biology, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Tokyo 153-8902,3 Research Institute of Biological Resources, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba 305-8566, Japan2

Received 23 July 2001/ Accepted 8 November 2001

Intracellular rickettsia-like structures were found in the tissues of a glossiphoniid leech, Torix tagoi, by transmission electron microscopy. Diagnostic PCR analysis using specific primers suggested that of the nine glossiphoniid species examined, two species, T. tagoi and Hemicrepsis marginata, harbored bacteria of the genus Rickettsia. A 1.5-kb eubacterial 16S rRNA gene segment obtained from each of these species was amplified by PCR, cloned, and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene demonstrated that the Rickettsia species found in the leeches constituted a novel clade that is distinct from the clade of arthropod-associated Rickettsia species. In natural populations, 97.7% (43 of 44) of T. tagoi leeches and 100% (9 of 9) of H. marginata leeches carried Rickettsia, suggesting that infection with Rickettsia is prevalent in these leeches. This is the first report of Rickettsia found in annelids.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan. Phone: 81-298-61-6087. Fax: 81-298-61-6080. E-mail: t-fukatsu{at}aist.go.jp.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2002, p. 999-1004, Vol. 68, No. 2
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.2.999-1004.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Eukaryot. Cell All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2002 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.