Virulence potential of Rickettsia amblyommatis for spotted fever pathogenesis in mice.

ABSTRACT: Rickettsia amblyommatis belongs to the spotted fever group of Rickettsia and infects Amblyomma americanum (Lone Star ticks) for transmission to offspring and mammals. Historically, the geographic range of A. americanum was restricted to the southeastern USA. However, recent tick surveys identified the progressive northward invasion of A. americanum, contributing to the increased number of patients with febrile illnesses of unknown etiology after a tick bite in the northeastern USA. While serological evidence strongly suggests that patients are infected with R. amblyommatis, the virulence potential of R. amblyommatis is not well established. Here, we performed a bioinformatic analysis of three genome sequences of R. amblyommatis and identified the presence of multiple putative virulence gen

SUBMITTER: Yen WY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8110513 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature