Molecular Evidence of Coxiella‐like Microorganism Harbored by Haemaphysalis concinnae Ticks in the Russian Far East

Abstract

Twenty female imago of Haemaphysalis concinnae ticks collected from wild vegetation in May of 2001 in the Obor region near Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East were studied. DNA was extracted with commercially available kits following manufacturer's instructions. We used broad range primers SFG3 and SFG6 proposed for amplification of 16S ribosomal RNA gene's portion of spotted fever group Rickettsia. Initial amplification resulted in positive results in all 20 ticks. Direct sequencing of five randomly chosen amplicons showed that obtained sequences belong to a new species. Closest homology was found in Coxiella burnetii 16S rDNA. Using the obtained sequence as a basis, we designed internal primers highly specific for that sequence. Then we confirmed our results by nested PCR amplification with newly designed primers Cox1 and Cox2-all 20 samples also were positive. Having combined these primers with universal eubacterial primers fD1 and rP2 we retrieved a 1,043 bp portion of the 16S rRNA gene. Consecutive homology search demonstrated that the closest sequence similarity belongs to new Coxiella sp. recently found in Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks (95.2% of homology) and Coxiella burnetii (94% of homology). So, our results suggest that a novel Coxiella-like microorganism, provisionally called here "Cenerentola," is harbored by Haemaphysalis concinnae ticks in the Russian Far East.

Borrelia, Coxiella, and Rickettsia in Carios capensis (Acari: Argasidae) from a brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) rookery in South Carolina, USA

“…Endosymbiotic Coxiella spp. are known from both argasid and ixodid ticks (e.g., Lee et al 2004;Mediannikov et al 2003;Noda et al 1997;Roshdy 1968), but the nature of the symbiotic relationship between the bacterium and its tick host is unknown. Likewise, the phylogenetic relationships between C. burnetii and the symbiotic Coxiella spp.…”

Localization and Visualization of aCoxiella-Type Symbiont within the Lone Star Tick,Amblyomma americanum

“…They also conclude that Amblyommaassociated Coxiella is a ubiquitous endosymbiont. Based on molecular comparisons, Amblyomma-associated Coxiella is closely related to the Q fever pathogen, C. burnetii, and other Coxiella-type bacteria associated with both ixodid and argasid ticks (5,29,30,35,43). Using ticks from the Oklahoma State University Laboratory colony and field collections, PCR assays and FISH analyses were complemented with general staining approaches and TEM to localize Amblyomma-associated Coxiella within the tick.…”

Coinfection of Dermacentor silvarum Olenev (Acari: Ixodidae) by Coxiella-Like, Arsenophonus-Like, and Rickettsia-Like Symbionts

“…To date, various Coxiella-like microorganisms have been detected in both hard and soft ticks (21,32,33,34,35,36,37,38). Interestingly, Coxiella-like microorganisms exhibited diverse 16S rRNA genotypes from different tick species.…”