Helminthic transmission and isolation of Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, by using trematode stages from freshwater stream snails.
Abstract: We report successful helminthic transmission of Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, using trematode stages collected from Juga yrekaensis snails. The ehrlichial agent was isolated from the blood of experimentally infected horses by culture in murine monocytic cells and identified as E. risticii ultrastructurally and by characterization of three different genes.
Publication Date: 2000-03-04 PubMed ID: 10699046PubMed Central: PMC88611DOI: 10.1128/JCM.38.3.1293-1297.2000Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The research explores how Ehrlichia risticii, responsible for Potomac horse fever, was successfully transmitted via helminthic transmission using trematode stages collected from a particular type of snail. The Ehrlichia risticii was identified in the horse’s blood through culture in murine monocytic cells and gene characterization.
Helminthic Transmission and Isolation of Ehrlichia risticii
- The crux of this research paper involves the transmission and isolation of Ehrlichia risticii, the bacterium that causes Potomac horse fever, a disease primarily affecting horses.
- Scientists were successful in transmitting E. risticii using helminthes, or parasitic worms discovered in certain stages of the Juga yrekaensis snail’s life cycle.
Experimental Infection and Isolation
- The researchers infected horses with the E. risticii to further understand the transmission and impact of the bacteria.
- Following infection, the bacterium was isolated from the horses’ blood samples for further examination and characterization.
- The isolation was conducted through cultivation in murine monocytic cells, a type of mouse-derived white blood cell. This process enabled researchers to grow and reproduce E. risticii outside the body, providing a clear scientific environment to study the bacteria’s behaviors.
Identification as E. risticii
- The bacteria isolated from the horses were identified as E. risticii not only by their ultrastructural attributes, or physical characteristics, but also via genetic characterization.
- The researchers characterized three different genes to verify the isolated bacteria as E. risticii. This comprehensively validated that the bacteria responsible for the observed infection was indeed the intended agent – Ehrlichia risticii.
Cite This Article
APA
Pusterla N, Madigan JE, Chae JS, DeRock E, Johnson E, Pusterla JB.
(2000).
Helminthic transmission and isolation of Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, by using trematode stages from freshwater stream snails.
J Clin Microbiol, 38(3), 1293-1297.
https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.38.3.1293-1297.2000 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA. npusterla@ucdavis.edu
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Ehrlichia / genetics
- Ehrlichia / isolation & purification
- Ehrlichia / ultrastructure
- Ehrlichiosis / transmission
- Ehrlichiosis / veterinary
- Female
- Fresh Water
- Helminths / microbiology
- Horse Diseases / transmission
- Horses
- Macrophages / microbiology
- Macrophages / ultrastructure
- Male
- Mice
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Orchiectomy
- Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
- Snails / parasitology
- Vacuoles / microbiology
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This article includes 20 references
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Citations
This article has been cited 11 times.- Uzal FA, Arroyo LG, Navarro MA, Gomez DE, Asín J, Henderson E. Bacterial and viral enterocolitis in horses: a review.. J Vet Diagn Invest 2022 May;34(3):354-375.
- Arroyo LG, Moore A, Bedford S, Gomez DE, Teymournejad O, Xiong Q, Budachetri K, Bekebrede H, Rikihisa Y, Baird JD. Potomac horse fever in Ontario: Clinical, geographic, and diagnostic aspects.. Can Vet J 2021 Jun;62(6):622-628.
- Xiong Q, Bekebrede H, Sharma P, Arroyo LG, Baird JD, Rikihisa Y. An Ecotype of Neorickettsia risticii Causing Potomac Horse Fever in Canada.. Appl Environ Microbiol 2016 Oct 1;82(19):6030-6.
- Greiman SE, Rikihisa Y, Cain J, Vaughan JA, Tkach VV. Germs within Worms: Localization of Neorickettsia sp. within Life Cycle Stages of the Digenean Plagiorchis elegans.. Appl Environ Microbiol 2016 Apr;82(8):2356-2362.
- Greiman SE, Tkach VV, Vaughan JA. Transmission rates of the bacterial endosymbiont, Neorickettsia risticii, during the asexual reproduction phase of its digenean host, Plagiorchis elegans, within naturally infected lymnaeid snails.. Parasit Vectors 2013 Oct 22;6:303.
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