A novel relapsing fever Borrelia sp. infects the salivary glands of the molted hard tick, Amblyomma geoemydae

Ai Takano; Chieko Sugimori; Hiromi Fujita; Teruki Kadosaka; Kyle R Taylor; Toshio Tsubota; Satoru Konnai; Tomoko Tajima; Kozue Sato; Haruo Watanabe; Makoto Ohnishi; Hiroki Kawabata

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2012.06.003

A novel relapsing fever Borrelia sp. infects the salivary glands of the molted hard tick, Amblyomma geoemydae

Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2012 Sep;3(4):259-61. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2012.06.003. Epub 2012 Jul 27.

Authors

Ai Takano¹, Chieko Sugimori, Hiromi Fujita, Teruki Kadosaka, Kyle R Taylor, Toshio Tsubota, Satoru Konnai, Tomoko Tajima, Kozue Sato, Haruo Watanabe, Makoto Ohnishi, Hiroki Kawabata

Affiliation

¹ Department of Bacteriology-I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 22910061
DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2012.06.003

Abstract

A novel relapsing fever Borrelia sp. was found in Amblyomma geoemydae in Japan. The novel Borrelia sp. was phylogenetically related to the hard (ixodid) tick-borne relapsing fever Borrelia spp. Borrelia miyamotoi and B. lonestari. The novel relapsing fever Borrelia sp. was detected in 39 A. geoemydae (39/274: 14.2%), of which 14 (14/274: 5.1%) were co-infected with the novel relapsing fever Borrelia sp. and Borrelia sp. tAG, one of the reptile-associated borreliae. Transstadial transmission of the novel relapsing fever Borrelia sp. occurred in the tick midgut and the salivary glands, although Borrelia sp. tAG was only detected in the tick midgut. The difference of the borrelial niche in molted ticks might be associated with borrelial characterization.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Borrelia / classification*
Borrelia / genetics*
Female
Ixodidae / microbiology*
Larva
Male
Molting
Nymph
Salivary Glands / microbiology*