RNA polymerase β-subunit-based phylogeny of Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp., Neorickettsia spp. and Wolbachia pipientis

Sequence analysis of rpoB, the gene encoding the beta-subunit of RNA polymerase, was used in a phylogenetic investigation of nine species from the genera Ehrlichia, Neorickettsia, Wolbachia and Anaplasma. The complete nucleotide sequences obtained for Anaplasma phagocytophilum (HGE agent), Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Neorickettsia sennetsu, Neorickettsia risticii, Anaplasma marginale and Wolbachia pipientis were amongst the longest rpoB sequences in GenBank and ranged from 4074 bp for N. sennetsu to 4311 bp for W. pipientis. Additional partial rpoB sequences were obtained for Ehrlichia canis, Ehrlichia ruminantium and Ehrlichia muris. Identical phylogenetic trees were inferred from multiple sequence alignments of the nucleotide sequences and the derived amino acid sequences using either distance, maximum-likelihood or parsimony methods. This study confirms the phylogeny previously inferred from sequence analyses of the 16S rRNA gene, groESL and gltA and allows the confirmation of four monophyletic clades. The rpoB nucleotide sequences were more variable than the 16S rRNA gene and groESL sequences at the species level.