Culture Isolate of Rickettsia felis from a Tick

0556827 - MBÚ 2023 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Danchenko, M. - Benada, Oldřich - Škultéty, L'udovít - Sekeyova, Z.
Culture Isolate of Rickettsia felis from a Tick.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Roč. 19, č. 7 (2022), č. článku 4321. ISSN 1661-7827. E-ISSN 1660-4601
Institutional support: RVO:61388971
Keywords : flea-borne rickettsioses * fever group rickettsiae * real-time pcr * spotted-fever * ixodes-ricinus * phylogenetic analysis * molecular-detection * genetic diversity * genus rickettsia * cat fleas * Rickettsia felis * vector-borne bacteria * Ixodes ricinus * shell-vial technique * cell culture
OECD category: Microbiology
Impact factor: 4.614, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4321

Although the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, has been identified as the primary vector of Rickettsia felis, additional flea, tick, mite, and louse species have also been associated with this bacterium by molecular means, however, the role of these arthropods in the transmission of R. felis has not been clarified. Here, we succeeded in culture isolation of R. felis from a host-seeking castor bean tick, Ixodes ricinus, the most common tick in Slovakia. The bacterial isolation was performed on XTC-2 cells at 28 degrees C using the shell-vial technique. An evaluation of the growth properties was performed for both the XTC-2 and Vero cell lines. We observed R. felis in the infected host cells microscopically by Gimenez staining and immunofluorescence assay. The R. felis isolate was purified by gradient ultracentrifugation and visualized by electron microscopy. Fragments of the genes gltA, ompA, ompB, htrA, rpoB, sca4, rffE, and rrs were amplified and compared with the corresponding sequences of the type strain URRWXCal2 and other R. felis cultureisolated strains. We did not detect any nucleotide polymorphisms, however, plasmid pRF delta, characteristic of the standard strain, was absent in our isolate. Herein, we describe the first successful isolation and characterization of a tick-derived R. felis strain ´Danube´, obtained from an I. ricinus nymph.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0331272