Genotypic Characterization of Rickettsia bellii Reveals Distinct Lineages in the United States and South America.

ABSTRACT: The bacterium Rickettsia bellii belongs to a basal group of rickettsiae that diverged prior to the pathogenic spotted fever group and typhus group Rickettsia species. Despite a diverse representation of R. bellii across more than 25 species of hard and soft ticks in the American continent, phylogeographical relationships among strains of this basal group-Rickettsia species are unknown; the work described here explores these relationships. DNA was extracted from 30 R. bellii tick isolates: 15 from the United States, 14 from Brazil, and 1 from Argentina. A total of 2,269 aligned nucleotide sites of 3 protein coding genes (gltA, atpA, and coxA) and 2 intergenic regions (rpmE-tRNA^fmet and RC1027-xthA2

SUBMITTER: Krawczak FS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5911327 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature