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Moura de Aguiar D, Pessoa Araújo Junior J, Nakazato L, Bard E, Aguilar-Bultet L, Vorimore F, Leonidovich Popov V, Moleta Colodel E, Cabezas-Cruz A. Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Pathogenic Strain of Ehrlichia minasensis. Microorganisms 2019; 7:microorganisms7110528. [PMID: 31694172 PMCID: PMC6921006 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms7110528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The genus Ehrlichia is composed of tick-borne obligate intracellular gram-negative alphaproteobacteria of the family Anaplasmataceae. Ehrlichia includes important pathogens affecting canids (E. canis, E. chaffeensis, and E. ewingii), rodents (E. muris), and ruminants (E. ruminantium). Ehrlichiaminasensis, an Ehrlichia closely related to E. canis, was initially reported in Canada and Brazil. This bacterium has now been reported in Pakistan, Malaysia, China, Ethiopia, South Africa, and the Mediterranean island of Corsica, suggesting that E. minasensis has a wide geographical distribution. Previously, E. minasensis was found to cause clinical ehrlichiosis in an experimentally infected calf. The type strain E. minasensis UFMG-EV was successfully isolated from Rhipicephalus microplus ticks and propagated in the tick embryonic cell line of Ixodes scapularis (IDE8). However, the isolation and propagation of E. minasensis strains from cattle has remained elusive. In this study, the E. minasensis strain Cuiabá was isolated from an eight-month-old male calf of Holstein breed that was naturally infected with the bacterium. The calf presented clinical signs and hematological parameters of bovine ehrlichiosis. The in vitro culture of the agent was established in the canine cell line DH82. Ehrlichial morulae were observed using light and electron microscopy within DH82 cells. Total DNA was extracted, and the full genome of the E. minasensis strain Cuiabá was sequenced. A core-genome-based phylogenetic tree of Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp. confirmed that E. minasensis is a sister taxa of E. canis. A comparison of functional categories among Ehrlichia showed that E. minasensis has significantly less genes in the ‘clustering-based subsystems’ category, which includes functionally coupled genes for which the functional attributes are not well understood. Results strongly suggest that E. minasensis is a novel pathogen infecting cattle. The epidemiology of this Ehrlichia deserves further attention because these bacteria could be an overlooked cause of tick-borne bovine ehrlichiosis, with a wide distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Moura de Aguiar
- Veterinary Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso State (UFMT), 78060-900 Cuiabá, Brazil; (L.N.); (E.M.C.)
- Correspondence: (D.M.d.A.); (A.C.-C.)
| | | | - Luciano Nakazato
- Veterinary Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso State (UFMT), 78060-900 Cuiabá, Brazil; (L.N.); (E.M.C.)
| | - Emilie Bard
- EPIA, INRA, VetAgro Sup, 63122 Saint Genès Champanelle, France;
| | - Lisandra Aguilar-Bultet
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland;
| | - Fabien Vorimore
- University Paris-Est, Anses, Animal Health Laboratory, Bacterial Zoonoses Unit, 94706 Maisons-Alfort, France;
| | | | - Edson Moleta Colodel
- Veterinary Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso State (UFMT), 78060-900 Cuiabá, Brazil; (L.N.); (E.M.C.)
| | - Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz
- UMR BIPAR, INRA, ANSES, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, Université Paris-Est, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France
- Correspondence: (D.M.d.A.); (A.C.-C.)
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Naimi WA, Green RS, Cockburn CL, Carlyon JA. Differential Susceptibility of Male Versus Female Laboratory Mice to Anaplasma phagocytophilum Infection. Trop Med Infect Dis 2018; 3:E78. [PMID: 30274474 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed3030078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Revised: 07/07/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) is a debilitating, non-specific febrile illness caused by the granulocytotropic obligate intracellular bacterium called Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Surveillance studies indicate a higher prevalence of HGA in male versus female patients. Whether this discrepancy correlates with differential susceptibility of males and females to A. phagocytophilum infection is unknown. Laboratory mice have long been used to study granulocytic anaplasmosis. Yet, sex as a biological variable (SABV) in this model has not been evaluated. In this paper, groups of male and female C57Bl/6 mice that had been infected with A. phagocytophilum were assessed for the bacterial DNA load in the peripheral blood, the percentage of neutrophils harboring bacterial inclusions called morulae, and splenomegaly. Infected male mice exhibited as much as a 1.85-fold increase in the number of infected neutrophils, which is up to a 1.88-fold increase in the A. phagocytophilum DNA load, and a significant increase in spleen size when compared to infected female mice. The propensity of male mice to develop a higher level of A. phagocytophilum infection is relevant for studies utilizing the mouse model. This stresses the importance of including SABV and aligns with the observed higher incidence of infection in male versus female patients.
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Headley SA, Scorpio DG, Barat NC, Vidotto O, Dumler JS. Neorickettsia helminthoeca in dog, Brazil. Emerg Infect Dis 2006. [PMID: 16972361 PMCID: PMC3291224 DOI: 10.3201/eid1208.060130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Diana G. Scorpio
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Nicole C. Barat
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | | | - J. Stephen Dumler
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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