title: Detection of the new Ehrlichia species closely related to Ehrlichia ewingii from Haemaphysalis longicornis in Yonaguni Island, Okinawa, Japan.
abstract: We collected a total of 206 Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks by flagging in pastures in Yonaguni Island, Okinawa, Japan, in April 2008. Four of the 206 tick DNA samples tested were positive in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening for the 16SrRNA gene of Anaplasmataceae. Partial sequences of 4 PCR products were identical to each other. Longer sequences of the 16SrRNA gene were successfully determined in 2 of the 4 tick samples, and the obtained 1,392 bp and 1,300 bp sequences revealed high similarity to the 16SrRNA gene sequences of the validated Ehrlichia species, including Ehrlichia ewingii, E. chaffeensis, and E. canis (98.3-98.6%). We also sequenced 1,304 bp of the groEL gene from the 2 tick samples, and found that these had the highest similarity to sequences of E. ewingii (94.0-94.4%) in the validated ehrlichial species. Based on the 16SrRNA and groEL gene sequences, the ehrlichial agents detected in this study were similar to the Ehrlichia species detected in Asia and may compose a new Ehrlichia species with other Ehrlichia species detected in Asia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Clinical Medicine, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080–8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Naoaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katagiri
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ooshiro
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zakimi
authors.lastname: Gaowa
authors.forename: Fumihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kawamori
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohashi
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inokuma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000235:genetics*; D004536:Ehrlichia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis*; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018834:Chaperonin 60; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S