Identification of Different Bartonella Species in the Cattle Tail Louse (Haematopinus quadripertusus) and in Cattle Blood

Bartonella spp. are worldwide-distributed facultative intracellular bacteria that exhibit an immense genomic diversity across mammal and arthropod hosts. The occurrence of cattle-associatedBartonella species was investigated in the cattle tail louseHaematopinus quadripertusus and in dairy cattle blood from Israel. Lice were collected from cattle from two dairy farms during summer 2011, and both lice and cow blood samples were collected from additional seven farms during the successive winter. The lice were identified morphologically and molecularly using 18S rRNA sequencing. Thereafter, they were screened forBartonella DNA by conventional and real-time PCR assays using four partial genetic loci (gltA ,rpoB ,ssrA , and internal transcribed spacer [ITS]). A potentially novelBartonella variant, closely related to other ruminant bartonellae, was identified in 11 of 13 louse pools collected in summer. In the cattle blood, the prevalence ofBartonella infection was 38%, identified asB. bovis andB. henselae (24 and 12%, respectively). A third genotype, closely related toBartonella melophagi andBartonella chomelii (based on thessrA gene) and toB. bovis (based on the ITS sequence) was identified in a single cow. The relatively high prevalence of theseBartonella species in cattle and the occurrence of phylogenetically diverseBartonella variants in both cattle and their lice suggest the potential role of this animal system in the generation ofBartonella species diversity.