Biomaterial Database

Detection of Novel Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) in Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Southwestern China. 2021

Qian Wang, and Wen-Bin Guo, and Yu-Sheng Pan, and Bao-Gui Jiang, and Chun-Hong Du, and Teng-Cheng Que, and Lin Zhan, and Jia-Hong Wu, and Ming-Hui Yu, and Xiao-Ming Cui, and Lin Zhao, and Da-Li Xu, and Luo-Yuan Xia, and Run-Ze Ye, and Jie Li, and Lian-Feng Li, and Wei Wei, and Yu-Hao Zhou, and Jia-Fu Jiang, and Na Jia, and Wu-Chun Cao

School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P. R. China.

Spotted fever group rickettsiae, mainly maintained and transmitted by ticks, are important etiological agents of (re)emerging zoonotic diseases worldwide. It is of great significance to investigate spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks in different areas for the prevention and control of rickettsioses. In this study, a total of 305 ticks were collected from wild and domestic animals in Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi provinces of southwestern China during 2017-2019 and examined for the presence of spotted fever group rickettsiae by PCR with primers targeting the partial gltA, ompA, rrs, and htrA genes. Results showed that two spotted fever group rickettsiae species, including the pathogenic Candidatus Rickettsia jingxinensis (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) and a potential novel species Rickettsia sp. sw (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), were identified. The Ca. R. jingxinensis sequences were recovered from Rhipicephalus microplus (Ixodida: Ixodidae) and Haemaphysalis longicornis (Ixodida: Ixodidae) ticks and phylogenetically clustered with previous Ca. R. jingxinensis, Ca. R. longicornii (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), and Rickettsia sp. XY118 (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) strains. Rickettsia sp. sw was detected in Amblyomma geoemydae (Ixodida: Ixodidae) and Rh. microplus. Interestingly, as far as we know, this was the first report of Rickettsia (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) in A. geoemydae. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that this potential novel species was closely related to R. aeschlimannii (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) with gltA and ompA genes and grouped in a cluster composed of R. montanensis (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), R. raoultii (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), R. aeschlimannii, R. massiliae (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), and R. rhipicephali (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) with htrA, while formed a separate clade with rrs. The pathogenicity of Rickettsia sp. sw should be further confirmed. These results expand the knowledge of the geographical distribution and vector distribution of spotted fever group rickettsiae in China and are useful for assessing the potential public health risk.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009758	Nymph	The immature stage in the life cycle of those orders of insects characterized by gradual metamorphosis, in which the young resemble the imago in general form of body, including compound eyes and external wings; also the 8-legged stage of mites and ticks that follows the first moult.
D002681	China	A country spanning from central Asia to the Pacific Ocean.	Inner Mongolia,Manchuria,People's Republic of China,Sinkiang,Mainland China
D005260	Female		Females
D000073605	Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis	A group of arthropod-borne diseases caused by spotted fever bio-group members of RICKETTSIA. They are characterized by fever, headache, and petechial (spotted) rash.	Rickettsialpox,African Tick-Bite Fever,Far Eastern Spotted Fever,Flinders Island Spotted Fever,Japanese Spotted Fever,North Asian Tick Typhus,Queensland Tick Typhus,Rickettsia aeschlimannii Infection,Rickettsia africae Infection,Rickettsia akari Infection,Rickettsia australis Infection,Rickettsia slovaca Infection,Spotted Fever Group Rickettsioses,Spotted Fevers,TIBOLA,Tick-Borne Lymphadenopathy,African Tick Bite Fever,Fever, African Tick-Bite,Fever, Japanese Spotted,Fever, Spotted,Fevers, Japanese Spotted,Fevers, Spotted,Infection, Rickettsia aeschlimannii,Infection, Rickettsia africae,Infection, Rickettsia akari,Infection, Rickettsia australis,Infection, Rickettsia slovaca,Infections, Rickettsia aeschlimannii,Infections, Rickettsia africae,Infections, Rickettsia akari,Infections, Rickettsia australis,Infections, Rickettsia slovaca,Japanese Spotted Fevers,Lymphadenopathies, Tick-Borne,Lymphadenopathy, Tick-Borne,Rickettsia aeschlimannii Infections,Rickettsia africae Infections,Rickettsia akari Infections,Rickettsia australis Infections,Rickettsia slovaca Infections,Spotted Fever,Spotted Fever, Japanese,Tick Borne Lymphadenopathy,Tick Typhus, Queensland,Tick-Bite Fever, African,Tick-Borne Lymphadenopathies,Typhus, Queensland Tick
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D000829	Animals, Domestic	Animals which have become adapted through breeding in captivity to a life intimately associated with humans. They include animals domesticated by humans to live and breed in a tame condition on farms or ranches for economic reasons, including LIVESTOCK (specifically CATTLE; SHEEP; HORSES; etc.), POULTRY; and those raised or kept for pleasure and companionship, e.g., PETS; or specifically DOGS; CATS; etc.	Farm Animals,Domestic Animals,Domesticated Animals,Animal, Domestic,Animal, Domesticated,Animal, Farm,Animals, Domesticated,Animals, Farm,Domestic Animal,Domesticated Animal,Farm Animal
D000835	Animals, Wild	Animals considered to be wild or feral or not adapted for domestic use. It does not include wild animals in zoos for which ANIMALS, ZOO is available.	Animals, Nondomestic,Animals, Nondomesticated,Animals, Feral,Stray Animals,Animal, Feral,Animal, Nondomestic,Animal, Nondomesticated,Animal, Stray,Animal, Wild,Animals, Stray,Feral Animal,Feral Animals,Nondomestic Animal,Nondomestic Animals,Nondomesticated Animal,Nondomesticated Animals,Stray Animal,Wild Animal,Wild Animals
D012281	Rickettsia	A genus of gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria often surrounded by a protein microcapsular layer and slime layer. The natural cycle of its organisms generally involves a vertebrate and an invertebrate host. Species of the genus are the etiological agents of human diseases, such as typhus.
D048494	Rhipicephalus	A genus of TICKS, in the family IXODIDAE, widespread in Africa. Members of the genus include many important vectors of animal and human pathogens.