Abstract
Transovarial transmission of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi (Rt) was experimentally demonstrated after establishment of infected laboratory colonies of Leptotrombidium deliense, L. fletcheri, L. arenicola and L. pallidum. Even if Rt is acquired by uninfected trombiculid larvae while feeding on infected rodents, it is not transmitted to progeny of the trombiculids. From these observations, trombiculid mites are considered to be the reservoirs as well as the vectors of Rt. Transovarial and filial infection rates were generally about 100%, but infected female produce largely uninfected offspring in a few cases. The adults of infected colonie of 3 species other than L. pallidum were mostly female, and the sex ratio in the infected L. fletcheri seemed to be controlled by Rt. In the adult stage of L. pallidum individuals, although Rt was seen in all the organs and tissues, it was distributed most densely in the salivary gland and ovary. Because the density of Rt was markedly different among cells in the same organ, it is considered that Rt does not transfer from one cell to another in trombiculids. Rt was found in many cells in the early stages of spermiogenesis, but was excluded from cytoplasm of these cells during the maturation process, resulting in the production of Rt-free mature sperms and spermatophores in the infected male trombiculid.
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