Production and characterization of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever, from snails (Pleuroceridae: Juga spp.) in aquarium culture and genetic comparison to equine strains.

ABSTRACT: We report on the production and characterization of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever (PHF), from snails (Pleuroceridae: Juga spp.) maintained in aquarium culture and compare it genetically to equine strains. Snails were collected from stream waters on a pasture in Siskiyou County, Calif., where PHF is enzootic and were maintained for several weeks in freshwater aquaria in the laboratory. Upon exposure to temperatures above 22 degrees C the snails released trematode cercariae tentatively identified as virgulate cercariae. Fragments of three different genes (genes for 16S rRNA, the groESL heat shock operon, and the 51-kDa major antigen) were amplified from cercaria lysates by PCR and sequenced. Genetic information was also obtained from E. risticii strains from horses wit

SUBMITTER: Reubel GH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC104868 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature