title: Genotypic and biological characteristics of non-identified strain of spotted fever group rickettsiae isolated in Crimea.
abstract: A strain of rickettsiae, designated Crimea-108, was isolated from ticks Dermacentor marginatus in the Crimea in 1977. Its immunobiological characteristics involve low pathogenicity for experimental animals, moderate infectivity for chick embryos, and antigenic relatedness to spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae (R. sibirica, R. conorii, R. akari), especially to R. sibirica. The genotypic characterization of the strain Crimea-108 was carried out in comparison with SFG and typhus group rickettsiae by using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and DNA-probe hybridization. The marked similarity was detected between DNA restriction patterns of the strains Crimea-108, R. sibirica and R. conorii, but each of them besides comigrating fragments had specific ones. Genotypic analysis of the strain Crimea-108, the SFG and typhus group rickettsiae by three independent DNA probes, based on R. prowazekii DNA, gave unique hybridization patterns for the Crimea-108 strain with all probes. The obtained data show that the Crimea-108 isolate does not belong to the species of R. sibirica, R. conorii, R. akari. The strain Crimea-108 is a novel strain of SFG rickettsiae for the Crimea region.
authors.affiliation: N. F. Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Balayeva
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Demkin
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rydkina
authors.forename: V F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Ignatovich
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Artemiev
authors.lastname: Lichoded LYa
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Genig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002950:Citrate (si)-Synthase / Q000235:genetics; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003870:Dermacentor / Q000382:microbiology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D051381:Rats; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D012703:Serotyping; D014455:Ukraine; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D007106:Immune Sera; D002950:Citrate (si)-Synthase