Molecular diagnosis and genetic diversity of tick-borne Anaplasmataceae agents infecting the African buffalo Syncerus caffer from Marromeu Reserve in Mozambique

Abstract

BackgroundTick-borne diseases (TBDs) are very important in relation to domestic ruminants, but their occurrence among wild ruminants, mainly in the African buffalo Syncerus caffer, remains little known.MethodsMolecular diagnostic methods were applied to detect Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma centrale, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia ruminantium and Ehrlichia chaffeensis in 97 blood samples of African buffalo captured at the Marromeu Reserve in Mozambique. Molecular detection of agents belonging to the family Anaplasmataceae were based on conventional and qPCR assays based on msp5, groEL, 16S rRNA, msp2, pCS20 and vlpt genes. Phylogenetic reconstruction of new Anaplasma isolates detected in African buffalo was evaluated based on msp5, groEL and 16S rRNA genes.ResultsAll the animals evaluated were negative for specific PCR assays for A. phagocytophilum, E. ruminantium and E. chaffeensis, but 70 animals were positive for A. marginale, showing 2.69 × 100 up to 2.00 × 105msp1β copies/μl. This result overcomes the conventional PCR for A. marginale based on msp5 gene that detected only 65 positive samples. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were performed for selected positive samples based on the genes msp5, groEL and 16S rRNA. Trees inferred using different methods separated the 29 msp5 sequences from buffalo in two distinct groups, assigned to A. centrale and A. marginale. The groEL sequences determined for African buffalo samples revealed to be more heterogeneous and inferred trees could not assign them to any species of Anaplasma despite being more related to A. marginale and A. centrale. The highly conserved 16S rRNA gene sequences suggested a close relationship of the new 16 sequences with A. centrale/A. marginale, A. platys and A. phagocytophilum.ConclusionsOur analysis suggests that different species of Anaplasma are simultaneously present in the African buffalo. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that diagnosed Anaplasma spp. in the African buffalo and inferred the taxonomic status of new isolates with different gene sequences. The small fragment of msp5 sequences revealed to be a good target for phylogenetic positioning of new Anaplasma spp. isolates.

Molecular survey and genetic characterization ofAnaplasma centrale,A. marginaleandA. bovisin cattle from Algeria

“…Tick-borne rickettsial diseases are considered as one of the major constraints to livestock improvement programmes as they are responsible for serious health problems resulting in reduced animal productivity and economic losses (Sen et al, 2010). The present data indicate that the cattle in Algeria were infected with three Anaplasma (Machado et al, 2016). This is the case also in Turkey (2.3%) (Aktas et al, 2011), Brazil (5.4%) (Silva et al, 2014), Pakistan (17%) (Ashraf et al, 2013) and Mongolia (8.7%) (Ybañez et al, 2012).…”

“…The overall infection rate with A. marginale described in our study was 11.1%. Several studies detecting A. marginale infection in cattle have been carried out in some regions from Africa with different rates such as in Tunisia (25.4%) (Belkahia et al., ); Morocco (21.9%) (Ait Hamou et al., ); Sudan (6.1%) (Awad et al., ); Egypt (3.7%) (Younis, Hegazy, El‐Deeb, & El‐Khatib, ); Madagascar (89.7%) (Pothmann et al., ); Nigeria (75.9%) (Elelu, Ferrolho, Couto, Domingos, & Eisler, ); Kenya (32.5%) (Adjou Moumouni et al., ); Angola (38%) (Kubelová, Mazancová, & Siroky, ); and Mozambique (67%) (Machado et al., ). This is the case also in Turkey (2.3%) (Aktas et al., ), Brazil (5.4%) (Silva et al., ), Pakistan (17%) (Ashraf et al., ) and Mongolia (8.7%) (Ybañez et al., ).…”

Viral metagenomics reveals the presence of highly divergent quaranjavirus inRhipicephalusticks from Mozambique

“…Theleiria and Anaplasma[15,16]. Since ticks are known vectors for potentially pathogenic and non-pathogenic viruses and the virome of ticks is understudied in this region, the current study used viral metagenomics to identify viruses associated with Rhipicephalus ticks collected in the Zambezi Valley of Mozambique.…”

Arthropod-borne agents in wild Orinoco geese ( Neochen jubata ) in Brazil

“…detected in the birds was shown to be phylogenetically close to A. phagocytophilum, the geese were negative in qPCR specific for the human granulocytic anaplasmosis agent, based on msp-2 gene. Genotypes phylogenetically associated with A. phagocytophilum but negative in A. phagocytophilumspecific qPCR assays based on the msp-2 gene have been already reported in wild carnivores [35], deer [26,62] and rodents [63] in Brazil, African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) in Mozambique [64] and dogs in Colombia [65]. Additionally, genotypes closely related to A. phagocytophilum have also been detected in cats [66], caracaras and vultures (Coragypus atratus) [20] in Brazil.…”