Abstract
The present study evaluated the rickettsial infection in Amblyomma parvum ticks collected in Northwestern Córdoba Province, Argentina. Each tick was subjected to DNA extraction and tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting fragments of the rickettsial genes gltA and ompB. Nine (69.2%) out of 13 adult ticks yielded expected PCR products for the two rickettsial genes. Products from the ompB PCR were sequenced, generating DNA sequences 100% identical for the nine PCR-positive ticks. Three of these ticks were tested in another battery of PCR targeting fragments of the rickettsial genes gltA, htrA, and ompA. Products from the gltA, htrA, and ompA PCRs were sequenced generating DNA sequences 100% identical for the three PCR-positive ticks. The rickettsia detected in the A. parvum ticks was designated as Rickettsia sp. strain Argentina. Phylogenetic analyses performed with partial sequences of the rickettsial genes gltA, htrA, ompB, and ompA showed that Rickettsia sp. strain Argentina belonged to the spotted fever group, being distinct from all known Rickettsia species and genotypes available in GenBank, representing possibly a new Rickettsia species. This was the first evidence of rickettsial infection in the tick A. parvum, and the third report of rickettsial infection among the Argentinean tick fauna. The role of Rickettsia sp. strain Argentina as a human pathogen is unknown. Further studies are needed to obtain tissue-cultured isolates of Rickettsia sp. strain Argentina, in order to better characterize it and to determine its taxonomic status as a new species.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altschul SF, Gish W, Miller W, Myers EW, Lipman DJ (1990) Basic local alignment search tool. J Mol Biol 215:403–410
Anderson BE, MacDonald GA, Jode DC, Regnery RI (1990) A protective protein antigen of Rickettsia rickettsii has tandemly repeated, hear-identical sequences. Infect Immunol 58:2760–2769
Aragão H (1936) Ixodidas brasileiros e de alguns paizes limitrophes. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 31:759–843
Cabrera AL (1976) Enciclopedia argentina de agricultura y jardinería. Fascículo 1. Regiones fitogeográficas argentinas, 2nd edn, vol 3. Editorial ACME, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 85 pp
Cicuttin GL, Rodriguez Vargas M, Jado I, Anda P (2004) Primera detección de Rickettsia massiliae en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Resultados preliminares. Rev Argentina Zoonosis 1:8–10
Eremeeva ME, Bosserman EA, Demma LJ, Zambrano ML, Blau DM, Dasch GA (2006) Isolation and identification of Rickettsia massiliae from Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks collected in Arizona. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:5569–5577
Fournier PE, Roux V, Raoult D (1998) Phylogenetic analysis of spotted fever group rickettsiae by study of the outer surface protein rOmpA. Int J Syst Bacteriol 3:839–849
Fournier PE, Dumler JS, Greub G, Zhang J, Wu Y, Raoult D (2003) Gene sequence-based criteria for identification of new Rickettsia isolates and description of Rickettsia heilongjiangensis sp. nov. J Clin Microbiol 41:5456–5465
Guglielmone AA, Nava S (2005) Las garrapatas de la familia Argasidae y de los géneros Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis, Ixodes Y Rhipicephalus (Ixodidae) de la Argentina: distribución y hospedadores. RIA 34:123–141
Guglielmone AA, Nava S (2006) Las garrapatas Argentinas del género Amblyomma (Acari: Ixodidae): distribución y hospedadores. RIA 35:133–153
Guglielmone AA, Estrada-Peña A, Keirans JE, Robbins RG (2003) Ticks (Acari: Ixodida) of the Neotropical Zoogeographic Region. International Consortium on Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Atalanta, Houten, The Netherlands, 174 pp
Guglielmone AA, Beati L, Barros-Battesti DM, Labruna MB, Nava S, Venzal JM, Mangold AJ, Szabo MP, Martins JR, Gonzalez-Acuna D, Estrada-Pena A (2006) Ticks (Ixodidae) on humans in South America. Exp Appl Acarol 40:83–100
Kumar S, Tamura K, Nei M (2004) MEGA3: integrated software for Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis and sequence alignment. Brief Bioinform 5:150–163
Labruna MB, Whitworth T, Horta MC, Bouyer DH, McBride JW, Pinter A, Popov V, Gennari SM, Walker DH (2004a) Rickettsia species infecting Amblyomma cooperi ticks from an area in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, where Brazilian spotted fever is endemic. J Clin Microbiol 42:90–98
Labruna MB, Bouyer DH, McBride JW, Camargo LMA, Camargo EP, Walker DH (2004b) Molecular evidence for a spotted fever group Rickettsia species in the tick Amblyomma longirostre in Brazil. J Med Entomol 41:533–537
Labruna MB, Jorge RS, Sana DA, Jacomo AT, Kashivakura CK, Furtado MM, Ferro C, Perez SA, Silveira L, Santos TS Jr, Marques SR, Morato RG, Nava A, Adania CH, Teixeira RH, Gomes AA, Conforti VA, Azevedo FC, Prada CS, Silva JC, Batista AF, Marvulo MF, Morato RL, Alho CJ, Pinter A, Ferreira PM, Ferreira F, Barros-Battesti DM (2005) Ticks (Acari: Ixodida) on wild carnivores in Brazil. Exp Appl Acarol 36:149–163
Labruna MB, Pacheco RC, Nava S, Brandão PE, Richtzenhain LJ, Guglielmone AA (2007) Infection by Rickettsia bellii and Candidatus ‘Rickettsia amblyommii’ in Amblyomma neumanni ticks from Argentina. Microb Ecol 54:126–133
Nava S, Mangold AJ, Guglielmone AA (2006) The natural hosts for larvae and nymphs of Amblyomma neumanni and Amblyomma parvum (Acari: Ixodidae). Exp Appl Acarol 40:123–131
Paddock CD, Summer JW, Comer JA, Zaki SR, Goldsmith CS, Goddard J, McLelan SLF, Tamminga CL, Ohl CA (2004) Rickettsia parkeri: a newly recognized cause of spotted fever rickettsiosis in the United States. Clin Infect Dis 38:805–811
Parola P, Davoust B, Raoult D (2005) Tick- and flea-borne rickettsial emerging zoonoses. Vet Res 36:469–492
Perlman SJ, Hunter MS, Zchori-Fein E (2006) The emerging diversity of Rickettsia. Proc Biol Sci 273:2097–2106
Regnery RL, Spruill CL, Plikaytis BD (1991) Genotypic identification of rickettsiae and estimation of intraspecies sequence divergence for portions of two rickettsial genes. J Bacteriol 173:1576–1589
Ripoll CM, Remondegui CE, Ordonez G, Arazamendi R, Fusaro H, Hyman MJ, Paddock CD, Zaki SR, Olson JG, Santos-Buch CA (1999) Evidence of rickettsial spotted fever and ehrlichial infections in a subtropical territory of Jujuy, Argentina. Am J Trop Med Hyg 61:350–354
Roux V, Raoult D (2000) Phylogenetic analysis of members of the genus Rickettsia using the gene encoding the outer membrane protein rOmpB (ompB). Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 50:1449–1455
Roux V, Fournier PE, Raoult D (1996) Differentiation of spotted fever group rickettsiae by sequencing and analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR-amplified DNA of the gene encoding the protein rompA. J Clin Microbiol 34:2058–2065
Roux V, Rydkina E, Eremeeva M, Rault D (1997) Citrate Synthase gene comparison, a new tool for phylogenetic analysis and its application for the rickettsiae. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 47:252–261
Sangioni LA, Horta MC, Vianna MCB, Gennari SM, Soares RS, Galvão MAM, Schumaker TTS, Ferreira F, Vidotto O, Labruna MB (2005) Rickettsial infection in animals and Brazilian spotted fever endemicity. Emerg Infec Dis 11:265–270
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by FAPESP (grant to M.B.L. and scholarship to R.C.P. and J.M.) and CNPq (scholarship to M.B.L. and L.J.R.). INTA, Asociación Cooperadora INTA Rafaela and CONICET supported the work of S.N.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pacheco, R.C., Moraes-Filho, J., Nava, S. et al. Detection of a novel spotted fever group rickettsia in Amblyomma parvum ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from Argentina. Exp Appl Acarol 43, 63–71 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-007-9099-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-007-9099-5