A hard tick relapsing fever group spirochete in a Brazilian Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

作者：Yparraguirre Luciana A^*; Machado Ferreira Erik; Ullmann Amy J; Piesman Joseph; Zeidner Nordin S; Soares Carlos A G

来源：Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 2007, 7(4): 717-721.

DOI：10.1089/vbz.2007.0144

• Borrelia theileri
• Borrelia lonestari
• Rhipicephalus microplus
• Ixodidae ticks

Tick-borne diseases usually comprise a complex epidemiological and ecological network connecting the vector, pathogen, and a group of host species. Symptoms associated with Lyme disease have been reported in Brazil, but no Borrelia sp. has been definitively related to these events. Here we have identified a B. lonestari/B. theileri-related spirochete DNA in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus from Brazil. Four hundred R. microplus and 80 Amblyomma cajennense ticks were screened, and only 1 horse-fed R. microplus was infected. A Borrelia sp. 16S rDNA sequence was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the total tick DNA with 99% similarity to B. theileri and B. lonestari. Partial flaB sequence was also obtained, demonstrating 96% similarity to the B. lonestari flagellin gene, and the resultant putative amino acid sequence demonstrated 97% identity to B. lonestari flagellin. Moreover, partial glpQ sequence demonstrated 92% similarity to the B. lonestari gene, with a putative amino acid sequence 90% identical to the B. lonestari glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase. Phylogenetic analyses clearly include this Brazilian Borrelia sp., denoted "Borrelia sp-BR," in a group of spirochetes aligned with B. theileri and B. lonestari. Thus, hard tick relapsing fever group spirochetes represent a clade of widespread bacteria and herein we describe the first molecular identification of a Borrelia sp. in South America.

• 出版日期2007