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 Labruna, M. B.
Right arrow Articles by Szabó, M. P. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Labruna, M. B.
Right arrow Articles by Szabó, M. P. J.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Labruna, M. B.
Right arrow Articles by Szabó, M. P. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2007, p. 869-873, Vol. 73, No. 3
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02249-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Isolation of Rickettsia rhipicephali and Rickettsia bellii from Haemaphysalis juxtakochi Ticks in the State of São Paulo, Brazil{triangledown}

Marcelo B. Labruna,1* Richard C. Pacheco,1 Leonardo J. Richtzenhain,1 and Matias P. J. Szabó2

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil,1 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil2

Received 22 September 2006/ Accepted 21 November 2006

In the present study, attempts to isolate Rickettsia in cell culture were performed individually in seven specimens of Haemaphysalis juxtakochi ticks collected in the state of São Paulo (southeastern Brazil). Rickettsia was successfully isolated by the shell vial technique and established in Vero cell culture from six ticks (six isolates). DNA extracted from infected cells of these isolates was tested by PCR and DNA sequencing, using genus-specific Rickettsia primers targeting the genes gltA, htrA, ompA, and ompB. After the generated sequences were compared with available sequences in GenBank, five out of the six isolates were identified as Rickettsia bellii (isolates HJ#1, HJ#2, HJ#3, HJ#4, and HJ#7). The sixth isolate (HJ#5) was closest to Rickettsia sp. strain R300, previously detected in H. juxtakochi in northern Brazil, and to Rickettsia rhipicephali, isolated from ticks in the United States. Following recent gene sequence-based criteria proposed for the identification of Rickettsia isolates, both isolate HJ#5 and strain R300 were identified as South American strains of R. rhipicephali, which was confirmed in this continent for the first time. Isolation of R. bellii from H. juxtakochi ticks, added to eight other tick species that have been reported to be infected with this bacterium in Brazil, indicates that R. bellii is indeed the most frequent Rickettsia species infecting ticks in Brazil. Currently, the role of both R. rhipicephali and R. bellii as human pathogens is regarded as unknown.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-270, Brazil. Phone: 55-11-3091 1394. Fax: 55-11-3091 7928. E-mail: labruna{at}usp.br.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 December 2006.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2007, p. 869-873, Vol. 73, No. 3
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02249-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Saito, T. B., Cunha-Filho, N. A., Pacheco, R. C., Ferreira, F., Pappen, F. G., Farias, N. A. R., Larsson, C. E., Labruna, M. B. (2008). Canine Infection by Rickettsiae and Ehrlichiae in Southern Brazil. Am J Trop Med Hyg 79: 102-108 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sunyakumthorn, P., Bourchookarn, A., Pornwiroon, W., David, C., Barker, S. A., Macaluso, K. R. (2008). Characterization and Growth of Polymorphic Rickettsia felis in a Tick Cell Line. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3151-3158 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»