Molecular characterization and multigenic phylogeography of isolates of Rickettsia bellii in the Americas

• Grant number: 15/10060-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 14, 2015
• End date: February 13, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Bahia Labruna
• Grantee: Felipe da Silva Krawczak
• Supervisor: Christopher Davis Paddock
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/21915-4 - Survey for rickettsial infection of the spotted fever group in dogs, small mammals and ticks in endemic and non-endemic areas of the Pampa and Atlantic forest biomes in the state of Rio Grande do Sul., BP.DR

Abstract

Rickettsia bellii is a bacterium with wide geographical distribution in the Americas, from the United States to Argentina, including Brazil. The aims of this project are the molecular characterization and phylogeographic analysis of R. bellii isolates from different species of ticks and regions of the Americas, including newly unpublished isolates that have been obtained during the present research grant from the Doctoral project FAPESP 2012/21915-4. A total of 20 R. bellii isolates from a variety of tick species will be analyzed, being 13 isolates from Brazil, 1 from Argentina, and 6 from the United States. Molecular characterization of the 20 isolates will be performed by generating DNA sequences of the rickettsial genes gltA, ompA, virB4, dnaA and dnaK, the intergenic regions rrl-rrf - ITS, mpp-pur, rpmE-tRNAfmet, and the R. bellii plasmids. The results will assist in a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of R. bellii, thereby providing the taxonomic understanding, and biogeographical relationships with invertebrate hosts and geographical origin, generating information for understanding the evolution of this species of bacterium in the Americas.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

KRAWCZAK, FELIPE S.; LABRUNA, MARCELO B.; HECHT, JOY A.; PADDOCK, CHRISTOPHER D.; KARPATHY, SANDOR E.. Genotypic Characterization of Rickettsia bellii Reveals Distinct Lineages in the United States and South America. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, 2018. (15/10060-6)

KRAWCZAK, FELIPE S.; LABRUNA, MARCELO B.; HECHT, JOY A.; PADDOCK, CHRISTOPHER D.; KARPATHY, SANDOR E.. Genotypic Characterization of Rickettsia bellii Reveals Distinct Lineages in the United States and South America. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, v. 2018, p. 8-pg., 2018-01-01. (15/10060-6)