title: Characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated in Taiwan by immunofluorescence and restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses.
abstract: A total of 10 strains of Orientia tsutsugamushi were isolated from field rodents and chiggers in Taiwan, and characterized by immunofluorescence analysis with monoclonal antibodies and by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the 56-kilodalton (kDa) protein gene. The isolates were divided into two groups consisting of 1 and 9 strains which showed some relation to Gilliam and Karp type strains, respectively. However, all these isolates possessed characteristics distinct not only from those of known prototype strains including Gilliam and Karp but also from all isolates from Japan. These findings suggest the existence of a large number of immunotypic and genotypic variants among the strains of O. tsutsugamushi, and the distribution of distinguishable strains in each area to which this species is endemic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Niigata College of Pharmacy, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuhara
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kawamori
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otsuru
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001179:Arthropod Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D007739:L Cells; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012377:Rodentia / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014323:Trombiculiasis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D014324:Trombiculidae / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial