Coinfection of Two Rickettsia Species in a Single Tick Species Provides New Insight into Rickettsia-Rickettsia and Rickettsia-Vector Interactions.

ABSTRACT: Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that can cause life-threatening illnesses. There is an ongoing debate as to whether established infections by one Rickettsia species preclude the maintenance of the second species in ticks. Here, we identified two Rickettsia species in inoculum from Haemaphysalis montgomeryi ticks and subsequently obtained pure isolates of each species by plaque selection. The two isolates were classified as a transitional group and spotted fever group rickettsiae and named Rickettsia hoogstraalii str CS and Rickettsia rhipicephalii str EH, respectively. The coinfection of these two Rickettsia species was detected in 25.6% of individual field-collected H. montgomeryi. In cell culture infection models, R. hoogstraalii str CS overwhelmed R.

SUBMITTER: Pan YS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9603609 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature