Possible biased virulence attenuation in the Senegal strain of Ehrlichia ruminantium by ntrX gene conversion from an inverted segmental duplication.

ABSTRACT: Ehrlichia ruminantium is a tick-borne intracellular pathogen of ruminants that causes heartwater, a disease present in Sub-saharan Africa, islands in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean, inducing significant economic losses. At present, three avirulent strains of E. ruminantium (Gardel, Welgevonden and Senegal isolates) have been produced by a process of serial passaging in mammalian cells in vitro, but unfortunately their use as vaccines do not offer a large range of protection against other strains, possibly due to the genetic diversity present within the species. So far no genetic basis for virulence attenuation has been identified in any E. ruminantium strain that could offer targets to facilitate vaccine production. Virulence attenuated Senegal strains have been produced twice independ

SUBMITTER: Gordon JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9937504 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature