Author/Editor		Massung, Robert F; Owens, Jessica H; Ross, David; Reed, Kurt D; Petrovec, Miroslav; Bjoersdorff, Anneli; Coughlin, Richard T; Beltz, Gerald A; Murphy, Cheryl I
Title		Sequence analysis of the ank gene of granulocytic ehrlichiae
Type		članek
Source		J Clin Microbiol
Vol. and No.		Letnik 38, št. 8
Publication year		2000
Volume		str. 2917-22
Language		eng
Abstract		The ank gene of the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) codes for a protein with a predicted molecular size of 131.2 kDa that is recognized by serum from both dogs and humans infected with granulocytic ehrlichiae. As part of an effort to assess the phylogenetic relatedness of granulocytic ehrlichiae from different geographic regions and in different host species, the ank gene was PCR amplified and sequenced from a variety of sources. These included 10 blood specimens from patients with confirmed human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (three from New York, four from Wisconsin, two from Slovenia, and one from Sweden). Also examined was a canine granulocytic ehrlichia sample obtained from Minnesota, Ehrlichia equi from California, Ehrlichia phagocytophia from Sweden, and the granulocytic ehrlichia isolate USG3. The sequences showed a high level of homology (>95.5% identity), with the lowest hemology occurring between a New York HGE agent and the Swedish E. phagocytophila. Several 3-bb delations and a variable number of 51- and 81-bp direct repeats were noted. Although the North American HGE sequences showed the highest conservation (>98.1% identity), phylogenetic analyses indicated that these samples represent two separate clades, one including the three New York HGE samples and the USG3 strain and another with the Wisconsin HGE and Minnesota canine sequences. Two of the New York samples and the USG3 strain showed 100% identity over the entire 3,696-bp product. Likewise, three of the Wisconsin humn samples and the Minnesota dog sample were identical (3,693 bp). Whereas phylogenetic analysis showed that the E. equi sequence was most closely related to the Upper Midwest samples, analysis of the repeat structures showed it to be more similar to the European samples. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters).
Descriptors		EHRLICHIOSIS EHRLICHIA PHYLOGENY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION SEQUENCE ANALYSIS, DNA RNA, RIBOSOMAL, 16S DOGS SEQUENCE HOMOLOGY, AMINO ACID REPETITIVE SEQUENCES, NUCLEIC ACID SWEDEN UNITED STATES SLOVENIA