Coxiella-like endosymbionts.
In the past two decades, many Coxiella-like bacteria have been found in hard ticks and soft ticks as well as in vertebrate hosts. It is interesting to note that many ticks harbor Coxiella-like bacteria with high prevalence. Coxiella-like bacteria and virulent Coxiella burnetii have high homology to each other; they form a monophyletic clade based on 16S rRNA sequence data and subsequent phylogenetic tree analyses. In this chapter, methods of detection, phylogeny, prevalence and density, distribution in tick organs, transmission routes, bacteria-host interactions, and putative functions of the Coxiella-like bacteria are reviewed.
Department of Biological Sciences, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521, USA. jz15@humboldt.edu
Jianmin
J
Zhong
D000818:Animals; D003381:Coxiella / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013987:Ticks / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*
D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S