title: Confirmation that Rickettsia helvetica sp. nov. is a distinct species of the spotted fever group of rickettsiae.
abstract: We propose the name Rickettsia helvetica sp. nov. for a rickettsial serotype of unknown pathogenicity isolated in 1979 in Switzerland from Ixodes ricinus ticks and designated the Swiss agent. The growth characteristics and the results of microimmunofluorescence serologic typing, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blotting (immunoblotting) with specific mice sera, and a polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis confirmed previously reported preliminary findings which suggested that this rickettsia, to which a name was given provisionally, does represent a new member of the spotted fever group of rickettsiae. The type strain is C3 (Reference Center for Rickettsioses, Marseille, France).
authors.affiliation: Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beati
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Péter
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Burgdorfer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aeschlimann
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003429:Cross Reactions; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins