title: Mixed infections, cryptic diversity, and vector-borne pathogens: evidence from Polygenis fleas and Bartonella species.
abstract: Coinfections within hosts present opportunities for horizontal gene transfer between strains and competitive interactions between genotypes and thus can be a critical element of the lifestyles of pathogens. Bartonella spp. are Alphaproteobacteria that parasitize mammalian erythrocytes and endothelial cells. Their vectors are thought to be various biting arthropods, such as fleas, ticks, mites, and lice, and they are commonly cited as agents of various emerging diseases. Coinfections by different Bartonella strains and species can be common in mammals, but little is known about specificity and coinfections in arthropod vectors. We surveyed the rate of mixed infections of Bartonella in flea vectors (Polygenis gwyni) parasitizing cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) in which previous surveys indicated high rates of infection. We found that nearly all fleas (20 of 21) harbored one or more strains of Bartonella, with rates of coinfection approaching 90%. A strain previously identified as common in cotton rats was also common in their fleas. However, another common strain in cotton rats was absent from P. gwyni, while a rare cotton rat strain was quite common in P. gwyni. Surprisingly, some samples were also coinfected with a strain phylogenetically related to Bartonella clarridgeiae, which is typically associated with felids and ruminants. Finally, a locus (pap31) that is characteristically borne on phage in Bartonella was successfully sequenced from most samples. However, sequence diversity in pap31 was novel in the P. gwyni samples, relative to other Bartonella previously typed with pap31, emphasizing the likelihood of large reservoirs of cryptic diversity in natural populations of the pathogen.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. patrick.abbot@vanderbilt.edu
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Abbot
authors: Alena E
authors: AE
authors: Aviles
authors: Lauren
authors: L
authors: Eller
authors: Lance A
authors: LA
authors: Durden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D001473:Bartonella / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000821:virology; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000635:transmission; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D008322:Mammals / Q000469:parasitology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D016205:Sigmodontinae; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; C511526:Pap31 protein, Bartonella bacilliformis
references: Infect Immun. 2000 Dec;68(12):6750-7
references: 11083791
references: J Clin Microbiol. 1997 Aug;35(8):2120-3
references: 9230394
references: Science. 2002 Jun 21;296(5576):2158-62
references: 12077394
references: J Clin Microbiol. 1996 Aug;34(8):1952-6
references: 8818889
references: N Engl J Med. 2007 Jun 7;356(23):2381-7
references: 17554119
references: Appl Environ Microbiol. 1997 Oct;63(10):3926-32
references: 9327557
references: Am Nat. 2006 Jul;168(1):41-53
references: 16874614
references: Parasitology. 2005 Jun;130(Pt 6):661-8
references: 15977903
references: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2005 Aug;3(8):621-31
references: 16064054
references: Bioinformatics. 2002 Mar;18(3):452-64
references: 11934745
references: Infect Immun. 2006 May;74(5):2513-21
references: 16622186
references: J Parasitol. 1997 Jun;83(3):374-81
references: 9194815
references: Crit Rev Microbiol. 2000;26(3):133-45
references: 11052646
references: Annu Rev Genet. 2003;37:283-328
references: 14616063
references: Epidemiol Infect. 2003 Feb;130(1):149-57
references: 12613756
references: Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1995 Apr;52(4):354-9
references: 7741177
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Mar 27;98(7):4130-5
references: 11274438
references: Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2004 Nov;54(Pt 6):1959-1967
references: 15545418
references: Infect Immun. 2003 Feb;71(2):814-21
references: 12540561
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Jun 29;101(26):9716-21
references: 15210978
references: Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1997 Nov;57(5):578-88
references: 9392599
references: Emerg Infect Dis. 2003 Mar;9(3):338-42
references: 12643829
references: Infect Immun. 2003 Apr;71(4):1706-18
references: 12654783
references: Science. 2001 May 11;292(5519):1099-102
references: 11352063
references: J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol. 2005;9(1):44-51
references: 16254445
references: J Med Entomol. 1994 Jan;31(1):82-98
references: 8158634
references: J Feline Med Surg. 2006 Apr;8(2):85-90
references: 16290092
references: Annu Rev Microbiol. 2004;58:365-90
references: 15487942
references: J Med Entomol. 2002 Nov;39(6):915-9
references: 12495192
references: J Med Entomol. 1998 Sep;35(5):625-8
references: 9775583
references: Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Jul;75(1):41-8
references: 16837707
references: Mol Microbiol. 2002 Oct;46(2):349-54
references: 12406213
references: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2006 Sep;4(9):660-9
references: 16894341
references: Trends Microbiol. 2003 Jul;11(7):318-21
references: 12875815
references: Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Mar;74(3):436-9
references: 16525103
references: Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2004 Winter;4(4):285-95
references: 15671735
references: Parasitology. 2001;122 Suppl:S23-38
references: 11442193
references: Bioinformatics. 1998;14(9):817-8
references: 9918953
references: J Clin Microbiol. 2003 Nov;41(11):5071-9
references: 14605141
references: Trends Microbiol. 2001 Jun;9(6):279-85
references: 11390243
references: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004 Oct;70(10):6302-5
references: 15466580
references: Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2004 Winter;4(4):296-305
references: 15671736
references: Trends Ecol Evol. 2007 Mar;22(3):120-6
references: 17137675
references: Bioinformatics. 2003 Aug 12;19(12):1572-4
references: 12912839
references: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Jun;990:233-5
references: 12860632
references: Vet Res. 2005 May-Jun;36(3):383-410
references: 15845231
references: Emerg Infect Dis. 2002 Dec;8(12):1515-8
references: 12498677
references: Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2002 Nov;52(Pt 6):2075-2080
references: 12508871
references: Am Nat. 2005 Nov;166(5):531-42
references: 16224719
references: Syst Biol. 2005 Jun;54(3):373-90
references: 16012105
references: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2006 Nov;4(11):826-36
references: 17041630
references: Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2002 Jan;9(1):8-18
references: 11777823
references: J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Aug;38(8):2943-8
references: 10921956
references: J Bacteriol. 2003 Mar;185(5):1739-44
references: 12591895