title: rRNA intergenic spacer regions for phylogenetic analysis of Rickettsia species.
abstract: Species of the genus Rickettsia are responsible for several human diseases, namely epidemic typhus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tick-borne typhus transmitted by arthropod vectors. The rrl-rrf intergenic spacer region (rrl-rrf ITS) was sequenced for 12 Rickettsia strains, including R. typhi, 6 untested species, R. aeschlimannii, Bar29, R. helvetica, R. honei, R. massilae, and R. slovaca as well as 5 Portuguese isolates. Phylogenetic trees inferred from rrl-rrf spacer sequences using maximum-parsimony and distance methods provided largely congruent tree topologies, supported by significant bootstrap values, enabling the identification of five distinct rickettsiae clusters.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Vegetal/Centro de Genética e Biologia Molecular, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vitorino
authors.forename: Líbia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zé-Zé
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bacellar
authors.forename: Rogério
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tenreiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S