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Ehrlichia ‐like Organism Gene Found in Small Mammals in the Suburban District of Guangzhou of China
Author(s) -
PAN HUA,
LIU SHIZHONG,
MA YUHAI,
TONG SHIDE,
SUN YANG
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2003.tb07346.x
Subject(s) - ehrlichia , biology , ixodes ricinus , polymerase chain reaction , gene , ehrlichiosis , 16s ribosomal rna , zoology , ribosomal rna , gene sequence , organism , virology , genetics , tick
A bstract : The 16S rRNA gene of Ehrlichia genus was examined from the blood and spleen of 26 wild small mammals that were captured at a canine feed lot where the first case of canine ehrlichiosis was found in south of China in 1998. Samples (3 blood and 1 spleen) from Rattus norvegicus were positive by polymerase chain reaction. The amplimers were then cloned and sequenced. All of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of these samples were found to be same and unique when compared with the other members of genus Ehrlichia . The most closely related species was Ehrlichia ‐like sp. Schotti variant (99.03% related), which was detected and identified in Dutch Ixodes ricinus ticks by Schouls in 1999. The organism found on these animals was obviously not the species of E. muris , which was isolated and identified from a wild mouse in Japan in 1995, since the relatedness of this gene between the former and the latter was 93.28%. It is unclear whether this organism can cause disease in other mammals, including human beings.