Rickettsia raoultii, the predominant Rickettsia found in Dermacentor silvarum ticks in China–Russia border areas

Wen, Jing; Jiao, Dan; Wang, Jianhua; Yao, De-hai; Liu, Zhixiang; Zhao, Gang; Ju, Wendong; Cheng, Cheng; Li, Yijing; Sun, Yi

doi:10.1007/s10493-014-9792-0

Cited by 44 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In the past five years, this species has been detected (among the others) in Mongolia, Georgia, Germany, Slovakia and China [23–27]. To date, the DNA of R. raoultii was shown to be present in 14 tick species of the genera Dermacentor , Rhipicephalus , Haemaphysalis , Hyalomma , Ixodes and Amblyomma [18].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First report of Rickettsia raoultii and R. slovaca in Melophagus ovinus, the sheep ked

et al. 2016

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Background Melophagus ovinus (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), a hematophagous ectoparasite, is mainly found in Europe, Northwestern Africa, and Asia. This wingless fly infests sheep, rabbits, and red foxes, and causes inflammation, wool loss and skin damage. Furthermore, this parasite has been shown to transmit diseases, and plays a role as a vector. Herein, we investigated the presence of various Rickettsia species in M. ovinus.MethodsIn this study, a total of 95 sheep keds were collected in Kuqa County and Alaer City southern region of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. First, collected sheep keds were identified on the species level using morphological keys and molecular methods based on a fragment of the 18S ribosomal DNA gene (18S rDNA). Thereafter, to assess the presence of rickettsial DNA in sheep keds, the DNA of individual samples was screened by PCR based on six Rickettsia-specific gene fragments originating from six genes: the 17-kilodalton antigen gene (17-kDa), 16S rRNA gene (rrs), surface cell antigen 4 gene (sca4), citrate synthase gene (gltA), and outer membrane protein A and B genes (ompA and ompB). The amplified products were confirmed by sequencing and BLAST analysis (https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi?PROGRAM=blastn&PAGE_TYPE=BlastSearch&LINK_LOC=blasthome).ResultsAccording to its morphology and results of molecular analysis, the species was identified as Melophagus ovinus, with 100% identity to M. ovinus from St. Kilda, Australia (FN666411). DNA of Rickettsia spp. were found in 12 M. ovinus samples (12.63%, 12/95). Rickettsia raoultii and R. slovaca were confirmed based on phylogenetic analysis, although the genetic markers of these two rickettsial agents amplified in this study showed molecular diversity.ConclusionsThis is the first report of R. raoultii and R. slovaca DNA in M. ovinus. Rickettsia slovaca was found for the first time around the Taklimakan Desert located in China. This finding extends the geographical range of spotted fever group rickettsiae. Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1885-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First report of Rickettsia raoultii and R. slovaca in Melophagus ovinus, the sheep ked

et al. 2016

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“…phagocytophila a,b ; Babesia a,b Unexplained febrile illness; Spotless rickettsiosis; human granulocytic anaplasmosis; babesiosis [ 90 - 93 ] D. silvarum HGE b ; E. chaffeensis b ; TBEV; R. raoultii sp. nov. b ; R. heilongjiangensis a,b , R. sibirica b Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis; Encephalitis; Spotted Fever; [ 23 , 94 - 98 ] D. auratus SFGR b Spotted Fever [ 99 ] D. everestianus An. ovis b ; R. raoultii –like bacteria b ; Bacillus tularensis b Spotted Fever; Tularemia [ 100 - 102 ] D. marginatus B. burgdorferi b ; R. slovaca a,b Lyme disease; tick-borne lymphadenopathy [ 51 , 103 ] D. niveus SFGR a,b ; An.…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tick-borne pathogens and the vector potential of ticks in China

Wang

et al. 2015

Parasites Vectors

147

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Ticks, as obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites, attack a broad range of vertebrates and transmit a great diversity of pathogenic microorganisms. They are considered second only to mosquitoes as vectors of human disease, and the most important vector of pathogens of domestic and wild animals. Of the 117 described species in the Chinese tick fauna, 60 are known to transmit one or more diseases: 36 species isolated within China and 24 species isolated outside China. Moreover, 38 of these species carry multiple pathogens, indicating the potentially vast role of these vectors in transmitting pathogens. Spotted fever is the most common tick-borne disease, and is carried by at least 27 tick species, with Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis ranked as the second and third most widespread tick-borne diseases, carried by 13 and 10 species, respectively. Such knowledge provides us with clues for the identification of tick-associated pathogens and suggests ideas for the control of tick-borne diseases in China. However, the numbers of tick-associated pathogens and tick-borne diseases in China are probably underestimated because of the complex distribution and great diversity of tick species in this country.

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“…However, R. slovaca and R. conorii share the common characteristics of being both less prevalent in their respective tick vectors and more pathogenic for humans than their counterparts. In Dermacentor ticks, R. slovaca , and R. raoultii exhibit prevalence of 0–4 and 10–82%, respectively (Parola et al, 2009; Milhano et al, 2010; Jiang et al, 2012; Speck et al, 2012; Spitalska et al, 2012; Wen et al, 2014) but in humans, they are detected in 57 and 8% of SENLAT cases, respectively (Parola et al, 2009; Foissac et al, 2013). Similarly, R. conorii and R. massiliae exhibit a prevalence of 0–0.7 and 8–17% in Rhipicephalus ticks (Fernandez-Soto et al, 2006a,b; Marquez et al, 2008), whereas the former is highly virulent and causes severe MSF with a mortality rate up to 30%, and the latter only causes a mild MSF disease (Cascio et al, 2013; Bechelli et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-omics Analysis Sheds Light on the Evolution and the Intracellular Lifestyle Strategies of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia spp.

et al. 2017

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Arthropod-borne Rickettsia species are obligate intracellular bacteria which are pathogenic for humans. Within this genus, Rickettsia slovaca and Rickettsia conorii cause frequent and potentially severe infections, whereas Rickettsia raoultii and Rickettsia massiliae cause rare and milder infections. All four species belong to spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae. However, R. slovaca and R. raoultii cause scalp eschar and neck lymphadenopathy (SENLAT) and are mainly associated with Dermacentor ticks, whereas the other two species cause Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) and are mainly transmitted by Rhipicephalus ticks. To identify the potential genes and protein profiles and to understand the evolutionary processes that could, comprehensively, relate to the differences in virulence and pathogenicity observed between these four species, we compared their genomes and proteomes. The virulent and milder agents displayed divergent phylogenomic evolution in two major clades, whereas either SENLAT or MSF disease suggests a discrete convergent evolution of one virulent and one milder agent, despite their distant genetic relatedness. Moreover, the two virulent species underwent strong reductive genomic evolution and protein structural variations, as well as a probable loss of plasmid(s), compared to the two milder species. However, an abundance of mobilome genes was observed only in the less pathogenic species. After infecting Xenopus laevis cells, the virulent agents displayed less up-regulated than down-regulated proteins, as well as less number of identified core proteins. Furthermore, their similar and distinct protein profiles did not contain some genes (e.g., ompA/B and rickA) known to be related to rickettsial adhesion, motility and/or virulence, but may include other putative virulence-, antivirulence-, and/or disease-related proteins. The identified evolutionary forces herein may have a strong impact on intracellular expressions and strategies in these rickettsiae, and that may contribute to the emergence of distinct virulence and diseases in humans. Thus, the current multi-omics data provide new insights into the evolution and fitness of SFG virulence and pathogenicity, and intracellular pathogenic bacteria.

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Rickettsia raoultii, the predominant Rickettsia found in Dermacentor silvarum ticks in China–Russia border areas

Cited by 44 publications

References 26 publications

First report of Rickettsia raoultii and R. slovaca in Melophagus ovinus, the sheep ked

First report of Rickettsia raoultii and R. slovaca in Melophagus ovinus, the sheep ked

Tick-borne pathogens and the vector potential of ticks in China

Multi-omics Analysis Sheds Light on the Evolution and the Intracellular Lifestyle Strategies of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia spp.

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