Rickettsia raoultii and Rickettsia sibirica in ticks from the long-tailed ground squirrel near the China–Kazakhstan border

Abstract

Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae cause infection in humans, domestic animals and wildlife. To date, no rickettsial agents have been reported in hard ticks from the longtailed ground squirrel (Spermophilus undulatus). A total of 50 adult ticks and 48 nymphs were collected from S. undulatus in the border region of northwestern China. Tick species (identified according to morphological and molecular characteristics) included Dermacentor nuttalli, Dermacentor silvarum and Ixodes kaiseri. Based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) haplotype analysis, I. kaiseri from S. undulatus belongs to an ancestral. In addition, all tick samples were analyzed for the presence of rickettsiae by PCR amplification and sequencing of six genetic markers. Rickettsia raoultii and Rickettsia sibirica subsp. sibirica were shown to occur in adults and nymphs of D. nuttalli and D. silvarum. Rickettsia sibirica subsp. sibirica was also detected in an I. kaiseri adult. Dermacentor silvarum and I. kaiseri were found for the first time on S. undulatus. Rickettsia raoultii and R. sibirica subsp. sibirica were detected in two Dermacentor and one Ixodes species, respectively, suggesting that these rickettsiae circulate in the region of the China-Kazakhstan border by hard ticks infesting S. undulatus.Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creat iveco mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Vectors of disease at the northern distribution limit of the genus Dermacentor in Eurasia: D. reticulatus and D. silvarum

“…( 2019 ) 1 l China Zhao et al. ( 2019 ) 180 l China Zhang et al. ( 2019 ) 10 l Mongolia Hightower et al.…”

Human Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia Infecting Yaks (Bos grunniens) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area

“…In China, eleven SFG Rickettsia species, Rickettsia sibirica, Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, Rickettsia aeschlimannii, Rickettsia conorii, Rickettsia felis, Rickettsia massiliae, Rickettsia monacensis, Rickettsia rickettsia, Candidatus Rickettsia jingxinensis, Rickettsia raoultii and Rickettsia slovaca, have been identified in tick vectors, Pathogens 2020, 9, 249 2 of 9 domestic animals and wildlife [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Several Rickettsia genotypes have been characterized as etiological factors of human rickettsiosis in the country, such as R. heilongjiangensis [14,15], R. sibirica subsp.…”

Rickettsiae in the common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) and the bat soft tick Argas vespertilionis (Ixodida: Argasidae)

“…The ticks were morphologically identified according to the standard taxonomic keys as previously described [14]. From five ticks, the 16S rDNA gene was amplified following a previously reported protocol [15]. The corresponding 16S rDNA sequence was deposited in the GenBank database under the accession number MF106219.…”

“…Four genetic markers, including 17 kDa antigen (17-kDa), citrate synthase (gltA), and outer membrane proteins A and B (ompA and ompB) genes were assessed within each sample to investigate the presence of rickettsiae [15]. The primers and PCR cycling conditions in this study are shown in Additional file 1: Text S1 and Table S1.…”

“…The primers and PCR cycling conditions in this study are shown in Additional file 1: Text S1 and Table S1. Each PCR assay included a negative control (distilled water instead of tick DNA template) and a positive control (containing sequence-verified DNA from R. raoultii obtained from the tick Dermacentor nuttalli collected in XUAR) [15]. Purification and sequencing of the PCR products were performed as described above [16,17].…”