title: Rickettsiae phylogeny: a multigenic approach.
abstract: The development of molecular taxonomic methods has provided a large amount of data in the reorganization of Rickettsiae taxonomy. Nevertheless, phylogenetic relationships among some groups and species delimitation remain unclear. To clarify rickettsial phylogeny, a multigenic approach was used for the first time for the genus Rickettsia, based on simultaneous analyses of eight loci: atpA, recA, virB4, dnaA, dnaK, rrl-rrf internal transcribed spacer, ompA and gltA. Concatenation of different nucleotide sequences resulted in an improvement in phylogenetic resolution when compared to single gene data. This multigenic approach has enabled the differentiation of many groups, including the spotted fever group which includes a great number of closely related species. The reliability of some previously recognized groups was evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências. Centro de Genética e Biologia Molecular and Instituto de Ciência Aplicada e Tecnologia. Edifício ICAT, Campus FCUL, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vitorino
authors.forename: Ivo M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Chelo
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bacellar
authors.forename: Líbia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zé-Zé
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer