title: Transstadial transmission of Borrelia turcica in Hyalomma aegyptium ticks.
abstract: Borrelia turcica comprises the third major group of arthropod-transmitted borreliae and is phylogenetically divergent from other Borrelia groups. The novel group of Borrelia was initially isolated from Hyalomma aegyptium ticks in Turkey and it was recently found in blood and multiple organs of tortoises exported from Jordan to Japan. However, the ecology of these spirochetes and their development in ticks or the vertebrate hosts were not investigated in detail; our aims were to isolate the pathogen and to evaluate the possibility of transstadial transmission of Borrelia turcica by H. aegyptium ticks. Ticks were collected from Testudo graeca tortoises during the summer of 2013 from southeastern Romania. Engorged nymphs were successfully molted to the adult stage. Alive B. turcica was isolated from molted ticks by using Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK) II medium. Four pure cultures of spirochetes were obtained and analyzed by PCR and sequencing. Sequence analysis of glpQ, gyrB and flaB revealed 98%-100% similarities with B. turcica. H. aegyptium ticks collected from T. graeca tortoises were able to pass the infection with B. turcica via transstadial route, suggesting its vectorial capacity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Zsuzsa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kalmár
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Vasile
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cozma
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health and Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sprong
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health and Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Setareh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jahfari
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Daniel I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Mărcuțan
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ionică
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magdaş
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Modrý
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Andrei D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Mihalca
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001898:Borrelia / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001899:Borrelia Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D005260:Female; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008297:Male; D013987:Ticks; D014426:Turtles / Q000469:parasitology