Volume 14, Number 7—July 2008
Research
Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks, Morocco
Mhammed Sarih*1, Cristina Socolovschi†1, Najma Boudebouch*, Mohammed Hassar*, Didier Raoult†, and Philippe Parola†
Table
Detection and identification of spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. from ticks collected in Morocco, by PCR and DNA sequencing
| Tick species (no. specimens tested) | Host | Rickettsial gene targeted/no. ticks positive by PCR/no. examined* | Identification by gene sequence (no. identified/no. tested) | GenBank accession no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dermacentor marginatus (11) | Vegetation | gltA/6/11 | R. slovaca (5/6), R. raoultii (1/6) | U59725, DQ365803 |
| ompA/6/6 |
R. slovaca (5/6),
R. raoultii (1/6) |
U43808, DQ365799 |
||
| Hyalomma marginatum marginatum (35) | Domestic animals | gltA/3/35 | R. aeschlimannii | U59722 |
| ompA/3/3 |
R. aeschlimannii |
DQ379982 |
||
| Haemaphysalis sulctata (79) | Domestic animals | gltA/61/79 | “Rickettsia endosymbiont of Ha. Sulctata” (“R. kastelanii”) | DQ081187 |
| ompA/0/61 |
– |
– |
||
| Ha. punctata (6) | Domestic animals | gltA/3/6 | “Rickettsia endosymbiont of Ha. Sulctata” (“R. kastelanii”) | DQ081187 |
| ompA/0/3 |
||||
| Haemaphysalis sp. (18) | Vegetation | gltA/14/18 | “Rickettsia endosymbiont of Ha. Sulctata” (“R. kastelanii”) | DQ081187 |
| ompA/0/14 |
– |
– |
||
| Ixodes ricinus (14) | Vegetation | gltA/9/14 | R. monacensis (5/9), R. helvetica (4/9) | AF140706, U59723 |
| ompA/5/9 |
R. monacensis (5/9) |
AJ427885 |
||
| Rhipicephalus sanguineus (106) | Domestic animals | gltA/5/106 | R. massiliae | U59720 |
| ompA/5/5 |
R. massiliae |
U43792 |
||
| Rh. bursa (76) |
Domestic animals |
gltA/0/76 |
– |
– |
| Rh. turanicus (25) | Domestic animals | gltA/0/25 | – | – |
*gltA, citrate synthase A; ompA, outer membrane protein A. Only ticks positive for the gltA gene were tested for the ompA gene.
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