Abstract
Background and Aim:As a tick-borne zoonotic pathogen, Ehrlichia canis has already posed a threat to public health and safety. This study aimed to clarify the prevalence and molecular characteristics of E. canis in pet dogs in Xinjiang, China.Materials and Methods:A total of 297 blood samples of pet dogs and 709 skin ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato) were subjected to molecular detection using PCR for E. canis 16S rRNA gene, and then, positive samples were amplified, sequenced, and phylogenetically analyzed for E. canis gp36 gene.Results:The PCR detection showed that the positive rate of PCR was 12.12% (36/297) in blood samples and 15.23% (108/709) in tick samples, respectively. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of E. canis gp36 protein, these E. canis strains in different geographical regions of the world can be divided into Genogroup I and Genogroup II. Among them, the Xinjiang epidemic strain XJ-6 and 533, 36, 1055, Kasur1, and Jake strains were clustered into subgroup 1.1 of Genogroup I, while the XJ-2, XJ-21, and XJ-35 strains and the TWN1, TWN4, CM180, and CM196 strains were closely related and belonged to subgroup 2.2 of Genogroup II, displaying high genetic diversity.Conclusion:This is the first study focusing on the molecular epidemiology of E. canis infection in pet dogs, which revealed that E. canis infection had been occurred in Xinjiang, China. More importantly, this study confirmed that the substantial variability in immunoreactive protein gp36 from E. canis strains circulating in pet dogs.
Highlights
Ehrlichia canis is the pathogen causing canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME)
The specific primers for 16S rRNA and gp36 gene were designed by Premier 5.0 primer software according to the conservative region, respectively. 16S rRNA FP1-RP1 primer was used for PCR detection of whole blood and tick samples, while gp36 FP2-RP2 primer was used for the amplification of gp36 gene of E. canis epidemic strains in Xinjiang (Table-1)
The results showed that the positive rate in ticks was higher than that of blood samples, and there were significant differences in the positive rate in different geographical areas, especially in Yili and Shihezi regions (p
Summary
Ehrlichia canis is the pathogen causing canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME). As a member of the strict intracellular parasitic Gram-negative microorganism in the family Anaplasmataceae [1], E. canis is mainly transmitted by ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato). The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. As a tick-borne zoonotic pathogen, Ehrlichia canis has already posed a threat to public health and safety. This study aimed to clarify the prevalence and molecular characteristics of E. canis in pet dogs in Xinjiang, China
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