title: Molecular detection of Bartonella species infecting rodents in Slovenia.
abstract: Rodents, collected in three zoogeographical regions across Slovenia, were tested for the presence of bartonellae using direct PCR-based amplification of 16S/23S rRNA gene intergenic spacer region (ITS) fragments from splenic DNA extracts. Bartonella DNA was detected in four species of rodents, Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus sylvaticus, Apodemus agrarius and Clethrionomys glareolus, in all three zoogeographic regions at an overall prevalence of 40.4%. The prevalence of infection varied significantly between rodent species and zoogeographical regions. Comparison of ITS sequences obtained from bartonellae revealed six sequence variants. Four of these matched the ITS sequences of the previously recognized species, Bartonella taylorii, Bartonella grahamii, Bartonella doshiae and Bartonella birtlesii, but one was new. The identity of the bartonellae from which the novel ITS sequences was obtained were further assessed by sequence analysis of cell division protein-encoding gene (ftsZ) fragments. This analysis demonstrated that the strain is most likely a representative of possible new species within the genus.
authors: Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Natasa
authors: N
authors: Knap
authors: Darja
authors: D
authors: Duh
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Birtles
authors: Tomi
authors: T
authors: Trilar
authors: Miroslav
authors: M
authors: Petrovec
authors: Tatjana
authors: T
authors: Avsic-Zupanc
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001473:Bartonella / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051189:Murinae; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria