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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2006, p. 1102-1109, Vol. 72, No. 2
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.2.1102-1109.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Novel Genetic Variants of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma bovis, Anaplasma centrale, and a Novel Ehrlichia sp. in Wild Deer and Ticks on Two Major Islands in Japan

Makoto Kawahara,1 Yasuko Rikihisa,2* Quan Lin,2 Emiko Isogai,3 Kenji Tahara,4 Asao Itagaki,4 Yoshimichi Hiramitsu,1 and Tomoko Tajima5

Nagoya City Public Health Research Institute, Nagoya, Japan,1 The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,2 Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Tobetsu, Japan,3 Shimane Prefectural Institute of Public Health Environment Science, Matsue, Japan,4 Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Japan5

Received 25 June 2005/ Accepted 16 November 2005

Wild deer are one of the important natural reservoir hosts of several species of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma that cause human ehrlichiosis or anaplasmosis in the United States and Europe. The primary aim of the present study was to determine whether and what species of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma naturally infect deer in Japan. Blood samples obtained from wild deer on two major Japanese islands, Hokkaido and Honshu, were tested for the presence of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma by PCR assays and sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes, major outer membrane protein p44 genes, and groESL. DNA representing four species and two genera of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma was identified in 33 of 126 wild deer (26%). DNA sequence analysis revealed novel strains of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a novel Ehrlichia sp., Anaplasma centrale, and Anaplasma bovis in the blood samples from deer. None of these have been found previously in deer. The new Ehrlichia sp., A. bovis, and A. centrale were also detected in Hemaphysalis longicornis ticks from Honshu Island. These results suggest that enzootic cycles of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species distinct from those found in the United States or Europe have been established in wild deer and ticks in Japan.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: The Ohio State University, 1925 Coffey Rd., Columbus, Ohio. Phone: (614) 292-5661. Fax: (614) 292-6473. E-mail: rikihisa.1{at}osu.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2006, p. 1102-1109, Vol. 72, No. 2
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.2.1102-1109.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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