Establishment of cloned Anaplasma phagocytophilum and analysis of p44 gene conversion within an infected horse and infected SCID mice.

ABSTRACT: Diverse p44 alleles at the p44 expression locus (p44Es) encoding surface-exposed major membrane proteins, P44s, of Anaplasma phagocytophilum were hypothesized to be garnered by recombination to enact antigenic variation. However, this hypothesis has not been proven so far, due to inability to clone this obligate intragranulocytic rickettsia. To define the p44E recombination, we developed a novel method to clone A. phagocytophilum. This isogenic cloned population containing a defined p44E was used to infect a naive horse and severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. During a 58-day infection period in the blood of the horse, p44E conversion was evident in a total of 11 new p44Es, 48% (115/242) of the sequenced p44E population. During a 50-day infection period in the blood of SCID mice,

SUBMITTER: Lin Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1201200 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature