scholarly journals Isolation and genetic characterization of a relapsing fever spirochete isolated from Ornithodoros puertoricensis collected in central Panama

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. e0009642
Author(s):  
Sergio E. Bermúdez ◽  
Brittany A. Armstrong ◽  
Lillian Domínguez ◽  
Aparna Krishnavajhala ◽  
Alexander R. Kneubehl ◽  
...  

Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) spirochetes are likely an overlooked cause of disease in Latin America. In Panama, the pathogens were first reported to cause human disease in the early 1900s. Recent collections of Ornithodoros puertoricensis from human dwellings in Panama prompted our interest to determine whether spirochetes still circulate in the country. Ornithodoros puertoricensis ticks were collected at field sites around the City of Panama. In the laboratory, the ticks were determined to be infected with TBRF spirochetes by transmission to mice, and we report the laboratory isolation and genetic characterization of a species of TBRF spirochete from Panama. Since this was the first isolation of a species of TBRF spirochete from Central America, we propose to designate the bacteria as Borrelia puertoricensis sp. nov. This is consistent with TBRF spirochete species nomenclature from North America that are designated after their tick vector. These findings warrant further investigations to assess the threat B. puertoricensis sp. nov. may impose on human health.

2018 ◽  
Vol 218 (11) ◽  
pp. 1783-1791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christelle Pomares ◽  
Sébastien Devillard ◽  
Tyson H Holmes ◽  
Tudor Rares Olariu ◽  
Cynthia J Press ◽  
...  

1964 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-499
Author(s):  
Robert C. Williamson

Traditional or developing areas of the world are moving toward urban and industrial societies characterized by rationalistic behavior. To an appreciable extent this transition is identified as the rise of urban middle sectors or classes, at least in the case of Latin America. One phase of the transition from a stage of economic underdevelopment to an industrial system has been the advent of public housing. Latin America in the last twenty years has witnessed extensive migration of families from the rural hinterland—in addition to the ever expanding families of the city itself— to the squatter shacks and slums, with eventual transfer of limited numbers to public housing. This article proposes to report on some differences in behavior and values of residents of private dwellings as opposed to those residents of public housing in two Central American capitals.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina M Hall ◽  
Joseph D Busch ◽  
Glen A Scoles ◽  
Kristina A Palma-Cagle ◽  
Massaro W Ueti ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 6647-6658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen F. Porcella ◽  
Sandra J. Raffel ◽  
Donald E. Anderson ◽  
Stacey D. Gilk ◽  
James L. Bono ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Borrelia hermsii is the primary cause of tick-borne relapsing fever in North America. When its tick vector, Ornithodoros hermsi, acquires these spirochetes from the blood of an infected mammal, the bacteria switch their outer surface from one of many bloodstream variable major proteins (Vmps) to a unique protein, Vtp (Vsp33). Vtp may be critical for successful tick transmission of B. hermsii; however, the gene encoding this protein has been described previously in only one isolate. Here we identified and sequenced the vtp gene in 31 isolates of B. hermsii collected over 40 years from localities throughout much of its known geographic distribution. Seven major Vtp types were found. Little or no sequence variation existed within types, but between them significant variation was observed, similar to the pattern of diversity described for the outer surface protein C (OspC) gene in Lyme disease spirochetes. The pattern of sequence relatedness among the Vtp types was incongruent in two branches compared to two genomic groups identified among the isolates by multilocus sequence typing of the 16S rRNA, flaB, gyrB, and glpQ genes. Therefore, both horizontal transfer and recombination within and between the two genomic groups were responsible for some of the variation observed in the vtp gene. O. hermsi ticks were capable of transmitting spirochetes in the newly identified genomic group. Therefore, given the longevity of the tick vector and persistent infection of spirochetes in ticks, these arthropods rather than mammals may be the likely host where the exchange of spirochetal DNA occurs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Cosson ◽  
Lorraine Michelet ◽  
Julien Chotte ◽  
Evelyne Le Naour ◽  
Martine Cote ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. e51914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Geller ◽  
Lidia Nazarova ◽  
Olga Katargina ◽  
Lilian Järvekülg ◽  
Natalya Fomenko ◽  
...  

Botany ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (10) ◽  
pp. 1001-1007
Author(s):  
Matthew Augé ◽  
Marie-Claude Bon ◽  
Laurent Hardion ◽  
Thomas Le Bourgeois ◽  
René F.H. Sforza

A new morph of leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula L., was discovered in the floodplains of the Val de Saône (VDS), France. In this region, this emerging weed shows two different morph colours: the common “green” variant and a rarer “red” variant. We compared the sequence data for the plastid trnT–trnF region among individuals of both morphs from the VDS, as well as other populations from Europe and North America, where this plant is invasive. In addition, we analysed the ploidy found among VDS individuals for both colours. Results showed that both morphs share two of the three chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) haplotypes found in the VDS and are both hexaploids (2n = 6x = 60). These results suggest that the red morph is only an environmental variant of E. esula subsp. esula. Our results indicate that leafy spurge infestations in this region form a genetically diverse structuring composed of three cpDNA haplotypes, two of which are shared by the two morphs.


Author(s):  
Keico Tanaka ◽  
Norihiko Itoh ◽  
Waka Saitoh-Inagawa ◽  
Eiichi Uchio ◽  
Satoshi Takeuchi ◽  
...  

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