Anaplasma marginale is the causative agent of anaplasmosis in cattle. Transposon mutagenesis of this pathogen using the Himar1 system resulted in the isolation of an omp10 operon insertional mutant referred to as the omp10::himar1 mutant. The work presented here evaluated if this mutant had morphological and/or growth rate defects compared to wild-type A. marginale. Results showed that the morphology, developmental cycle, and growth in tick and mammalian cell cultures are similar for the mutant and the wild type. Tick transmission experiments established that tick infection levels with the mutant were similar to those with wild-type A. marginale and that infected ticks successfully infected cattle. However, this mutant exhibited reduced infectivity and growth in cattle. The possibility of transforming A. marginale by transposon mutagenesis coupled with in vitro and in vivo assessment of altered phenotypes can aid in the identification of genes associated with virulence. The isolation of deliberately attenuated organisms that can be evaluated in their natural biological system is an important advance for the rational design of vaccines against this species.A naplasma marginale is a tick-associated bacterium and the etiologic agent of bovine anaplasmosis, a disease that causes considerable losses to both dairy and beef industries worldwide (1, 2). Although organisms of this species are principally pathogenic to cattle, they are also found in other ruminants, such as water buffalo and deer (3).The transmission cycle of A. marginale has been well documented and indicates that the success of this pathogen depends on its ability to adapt to its invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. In the tick, during its transit from the midgut to the salivary glands, A. marginale has to overcome different tissue barriers and defense mechanisms in order to ensure its transmission to the vertebrate host (4-7). In cattle, A. marginale replicates within mature erythrocytes, producing an acute disease characterized by hemolytic anemia. However, one of the most important features of the biology of these bacteria is the lifelong persistent infection of its ruminant host, achieved by evasion of the immune system using a mechanism of antigenic variation in which different variants of outer membrane proteins Msp2 and Msp3 are expressed. These persistently infected cattle remain a reservoir of A. marginale organisms for continued tick transmission (8-11).The ability of A. marginale to thrive in such diverse environments is mediated by differential gene transcription (12). Hence, the identification and characterization of these genes using recombinant DNA technologies is not only central to understanding the biology and pathogenesis of these organisms but also for the development of drug therapies and vaccines for the control of anaplasmosis. Recently, the use of transposon mutagenesis in the A. marginale Virginia strain to create insertional mutations was demonstrated (13). Delivery of a plasmid containing the Himar1 transposon and the A7 transpo...