title: Rickettsia lusitaniae sp. nov. isolated from the soft tick Ornithodoros erraticus (Acarina: Argasidae).
abstract: In this study a novel Rickettsia from the spotted fever group, isolated from Ornithodoros erraticus soft ticks collected from pigpens in the south of Portugal, is described. After initial screening revealed Rickettsia-positive ticks, isolation attempts were then performed. Successful isolates were achieved by shell-vial technique using Vero E6 cells at 28°C. Molecular characterization of the isolate was performed based on analysis of five rickettsial genes gltA, ompA, ompB, sca1 and htr with their subsequent concatenation along with other rickettsial species resulting in a clustering of the new isolate with Rickettsia felis and Rickettsia hoogstraalii. The degree of nucleotide sequence similarity with other rickettsiae fulfills the criteria for classification of our isolate as a novel species. The name Rickettsia lusitaniae sp. nov. (=CEVDI PoTiRo) is proposed for this new species found in O. erraticus.
authors: Center for Vector and Infectious Diseases Dr. Francisco Cambournac, National Institute of Health, Águas de Moura, Portugal.
authors: Natacha
authors: N
authors: Milhano
authors: Center for Vector and Infectious Diseases Dr. Francisco Cambournac, National Institute of Health, Águas de Moura, Portugal.
authors: Mariana
authors: M
authors: Palma
authors: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Arlei
authors: A
authors: Marcili
authors: Center for Vector and Infectious Diseases Dr. Francisco Cambournac, National Institute of Health, Águas de Moura, Portugal.
authors: Maria Sofia
authors: MS
authors: Núncio
authors: Center for Vector and Infectious Diseases Dr. Francisco Cambournac, National Institute of Health, Águas de Moura, Portugal.
authors: Isabel Lopes
authors: IL
authors: de Carvalho
authors: Center for Vector and Infectious Diseases Dr. Francisco Cambournac, National Institute of Health, Águas de Moura, Portugal. Electronic address: rita.sousa@insa.min-saude.pt.
authors: Rita
authors: R
authors: de Sousa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005260:Female; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D005810:Multigene Family; D026861:Ornithodoros / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011174:Portugal; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013552:Swine; D014709:Vero Cells
keywords: Ornithodoros erraticus; Pig pens; Portugal; Rickettsia lusitaniae sp. nov.; Soft tick